


Better Left Dead

by GoldenS0422



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Angst, Angst and Romance, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anidala, Drama & Romance, F/M, Historical References, Human/Vampire Relationship, Psychological Horror, Romance, Skywalker Family Drama (Star Wars), i mean i guess sola is also really important too, palpatine is a first name, the only REALLY important characters are anakin padme and palpatine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:27:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 30,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26886619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenS0422/pseuds/GoldenS0422
Summary: Set during the reign of Queen Victoria, the year 1880, Captain Anakin Skywalker and Princess Padmé of Cornwall are lovers, but when her father, Prince Palpatine, Duke of Cornwall, dooms his daughter's lover to the fate of becoming a vampire, Padmé must find a way to make themselves a happy ending.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Shmi Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala & Sola Naberrie, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 10
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter 1

“Watch yourselves, mates,” Captain Anakin said as he slowly creeped through the area and over the sandy place. It was only his second time leading men as a Captain, so he was still much more worried about this compared to others with more experience.

“You got it,” one of his men replied. “We’re watching, no worries.”

“Stupid rifle,” the soldier next to Anakin cussed.

Anakin raised an eyebrow and looked at him, still maintaining the pace they were on, “What’s wrong, bud?”

“Even if I understand this crap, it’s still hard to work out, sir,” he replied.

The captain chuckled, “Well, deal with it before we have to deal with the Afghans. I may be the man in charge here, but that doesn’t mean I can watch all your arses.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” the soldier rolled his eyes. “I got it.”

“It’s awfully quiet here,” Anakin observed before looking back to his men. “Any of you see anything or hear anything? I’ll need something sometime soon.”

They all shook their heads, “No, sir.”

Anakin groaned, “Alright, then.”

“Wait, wait, wait, I do,” the man at the very back of the group said.

Anakin turned around to look at him, “What is it, McMillan?”

McMillan sighed, trying to pinpoint wherever whatever he was seeing or hearing was coming from, “Uh, I-I remember seeing one over-“

_BANG!_

“SHIT!”, Anakin’s eyes practically shot wide open as McMillan fell down.

One of his men checked on McMillan, “Nothing, sir, he’s dead!”

“Crap, follow me! We’ve gotta find cover!”, Anakin gestured for his group to follow him, and they did. As they kept moving, the shots just came more and more frequently as their boots dug into the sand they were trying to get through before being lifted out promptly.

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

“AGH!”

“AH!”

Anakin could hear his fallen men falling to the ground as he led the charge to cover.

They scuttled behind a small building already damaged, but it held on for now. Anakin leaned to the left to try and get a shot, and when he fired at one of the enemies, he miraculously landed a shot.

“Got one,” Anakin said, a small look of triumph on his face quickly fading after saying that.

“Good shot, sir,” Lieutenant Fett, his right-hand man, complimented him before trying a shot of his own and unfortunately missing it.

_BANG! BANG! BANG! WHIR!_

Anakin could hear bullets flying by and hitting the small building. In fact, he had a near miss. Each of his men tried at least one shot, but it wasn’t working out.

“THEY’RE UP TOP!”, Anakin pointed to the top of the building on the other side, and all of his men noticed his gestures. “OVER THERE!”

Rex Fett tried another shot.

_BANG!_

“HA! GOT ONE!”, he pumped his fist.

Anakin patted his shoulder before trying one of his own.

_BANG!_

“Yep, got him.”

“HOW MANY ARE STILL THERE?!”, Rex asked with a shout.

“6 OF ‘EM, SIR!”, Corporal Allen answered.

“THANKS!”

_BANG! BANG!_

Shots came from elsewhere now. “FUCK!”

“ALLEN’S DOWN, SIR!”, the soldier next to him shouted before getting shot himself. “AGH!”

“LOOK FOR THEM, NOW!”, Anakin commanded.

“YES, SIR!”

_BANG! BANG!_

Anakin’s men were dropping like flies, falling to the ground with one precise hit each, and Anakin knew he was messing up. He quickly scanned the area before finding one Afghan to his right, “FOUND ONE!”

_BANG!_

“GOT ONE!”

_BANG! BANG! WHIR!_

“MORE OF THEM!”

Rex eyed up a shot.

_BANG!_

“DAMN IT!”, Rex said, slowly falling to the ground as he covered his wound.

“REX!”

Anakin whipped his head around repeatedly, looking for the man who shot Rex.

_WHIR! BANG!_

“AGH!”, another man down.

Anakin’s eyes widened before getting back to the task.

_Where are you? Where are you? SHOW YOURSELF!_

_BANG!_

He sighed in relief, “I got ‘em.” He then looked down at Rex. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” he nodded weakly. “Just a hit in the- urgh, leggg.”

“Can you stand?”, Anakin asked, ignoring the blaze of bullets still constantly flying at them and hitting the building.

Rex slowly nodded, “Yeah, just- UGH, DAMN IT! Ugh, give me a sec, sir.”

“Okay, okay,” he got a hold of his friend as he slowly helped him up to his feet. “Okay, okay, okay, you’re alright, you’re alright.”

Rex groaned again, “J-just leave me here, s-s-sir, I’ll just be dead weight. Leave me here, maybe I can buy you time to get to the others.”

Anakin shook his head, “No, you’re coming with me.”

“N-no, leave me.”

“NO!”, Anakin replied stubbornly. “It’s either we make it out alive or we both die!”

Rex conceded, “Alright.”

“Just hold onto me,” he said, trying to make sure he could still use his rifle whilst still having Rex with him. “We’ll be alright.”

_Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. Stomp._

The two began trundling and limping across the sand. Anakin could barely see the building that the others were staying at. He didn’t care if he’d be praised for his courage and valor or scolded for his incompetency, but either way, he had to get he and Rex out of this place alive, so he kept moving boldly.

_BANG! WHIR!_

A bullet flew by.

_WHIR!_

Another one flew by.

Anakin lousily aimed his gun at the obvious enemy.

_BANG!_

A miss.

Anakin saw Rex aiming his rifle weakly.

_BANG!_

Another miss.

Rex groaned.

Anakin kept moving, but he tried to reload.

He aimed again.

_BANG!_

“Got him.”

Rex smiled for a moment, “Good thing.”

“Come on, let’s keep going.”

_BANG!_

“AGAIN?!”

Rex tried a shot of his own.

_BANG!_

“Nice, I got him,” Rex had a small smug smile on his face after that.

Anakin patted his shoulder and laughed breathlessly, “Good shot, Lieutenant.”

The two kept limping and limping to the far building when Rex fell to the ground.

_BOOM!_

An explosion came from the far end of the place, but it wasn’t the reason Rex fell. Still, Anakin helped him up, “You alright, Rex?”

“Yep,” he replied before groaning. “Just got a little out of shape, don’t mind it. Come on, we gotta get moving.”

Anakin nodded, “Well, let’s go then. If someone here’s heavier, it’s you.”

Rex laughed as they got moving again, “Yeah, I guess you’re right about that.”

_BANG! BANG! BANG! BOOM!_

More shots and explosions came, but this time, Anakin and Rex elected to ignore it. Eventually, they found themselves behind a more durable building, so the two of them decided to stop there for a bit.

“Do you think the Major’s gonna get mad at you?”, Rex asked nervously.

Anakin shrugged, “I don’t know. I hope he’s not, but I promise I won’t get you into any trouble if I do get in trouble.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Anakin nodded. “I’m the captain here. I’m the one who has to watch your arses, and if I fail that, it’s my fault, not yours.”

“Not necessarily,” Rex shook his head slowly. “Like you said earlier, we have to watch our own arses or we’ll get fucked ourselves. In the end, we all have some sort of fault.”

“In the end, I still have to take responsibility,” Anakin pointed out firmly. “I’ll take the blame here, and maybe I’ll just hope the consequences aren’t too bad.”

“I hope you get some sort of award.”

Anakin raised an eyebrow, “An award? For what?”

“For saving my arse and literally walking me to safety,” Rex answered.

“We’re not out of the woods just yet, old man,” he said before glancing around the battlefield that he and Rex were still in. “We’ve still got a bit of walking to do before we can call ourselves lucky boys.”

“What are you gonna do if you make it out of here alive?”, Rex asked.

He snorted, “Well, go see the princess, duh.”

“Princess Padmé?”

“Who else?”

“Oh, fuck me,” Rex slowly shook his head. “I thought those were just rumors, mate.”

He laughed, “They are not.”

“How long have you two been together?”

He shrugged, “Uh, around one or two years, somewhere between that.”

“Are you gonna propose soon?”

“I have to get Her Majesty’s permission first,” Anakin raised an eyebrow. “I have to have that before I can marry her.”

“Okay, but anyway, we should probably get moving again.”

“Good idea.”

____________________

Anakin and Rex were closing in on the building. The battlefield seems to have calmed down as his fellow soldiers came running out of the building to help them, and he saw Major Daniels coming over to meet them.

“Captain Skywalker? What happened?”, Daniels asked, sounding stern yet concerned.

Anakin let go of Rex who was being taken by his friendlies before answering, “Got shot at, hid behind a building, still got shot, many men killed, shot a man before he could shoot Lieutenant Fett, helped the lieutenant walk through this sandy hell as I shot some Afghans, and made it back here.”

Daniels sighed, placing his hands on his waist before apologizing, “I’m sorry, son, that was my fault. I could have positioned you and your men much better than just have you close to a small building. Ugh, that was my fault, and I’m so sorry.”

Anakin’s eyes widened before accepting his apologizing, “O-okay, alright.”

He patted Anakin’s shoulder, “You did very well, son. That was very brave of you. Come in, and we’ll help you out. We’ll be out of this hell in short time, don’t worry. We’re winning this battle, after all, so just hang in there for now.”

Anakin nodded before following Daniels inside, “Okay, I got it.”

____________________

Anakin sat down next to Rex before sighing, “Crazy day, isn’t it?”

“It is,” Rex agreed before looking at him to ask. “So, did Major get mad at you?”

He shook his head, “No, in fact, he was actually proud of me for…doing something so brave, apparently.”

Rex chuckled, “See? I told you you’d be well.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Major said we’ll be out of here in a bit.”

“Yeah, he told me that, too.”

“You gonna visit the princess at the palace?”

“Mhm,” he nodded. “Always the first thing I do after a big mess. What are you gonna do?”

“Pray to God? I don’t know, man,” Rex shrugged.

He laughed before patting the lieutenant’s shoulder, “Well, whatever you do, time will tell.”


	2. Chapter 2

The day was quiet for Padmé. Her Anakin had left a few days ago, and she didn’t know when he would be coming back. She really hoped he’d come back soon, and more importantly, she hoped he’d come back alive. She had imagined marrying him ever since the day they’ve met, and one day, she wished that would come true. He was the reason she’d tolerated being a princess considering her title gave her the privilege of seeing him often, and she couldn’t bare to witness the sight of him dying, much to the point that she would do anything for him to stay alive. Literally anything.

There was a knock on the door before one of her handmaids came in, “Your Highness.”

Padmé looked up at her, letting go of her book and leaving it on her large bed, “Yes?”

“Captain Anakin Skywalker would like to see you,” she said.

She couldn’t believe it. She smiled, “Well, let him in then.”

Anakin entered the room, a small smile on his face widening at the sight of his lover, “Padmé.” She ran to him and kissed him passionately, and when she pulled out, Anakin kept speaking. “How are you, my love?”

“Better now that you’re here, Ani,” she answered with a grin. “I thought you’d be gone for so long.”

“I’m not that far,” he replied.

It was true that Anakin really wasn’t that far. Padmé resided not too far from Anakin’s base and not too far from Buckingham Palace; it was admittedly the perfect balance of distance. She had met her lover when she’d visited his military base to deliver a speech of some sort, and she felt the instant spark between the two. Despite that, it was Anakin who made the first move and asked if she wanted to spend time with him over a meal. Instantly, they got along and could relate with one another. Padmé’s pure, flawless, and young aesthetic perfection was a great contrast to Anakin’s commendable gritty and scarred beauty.

She laughed breathlessly, “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Me, too,” he quipped, causing her to laugh even more. “Oh, my, you haven’t even aged one bit.”

She playfully hit him, “But, it’s only been a few days!”

“Still, for a woman closing in on 30, you look the part of a woman five years younger,” he commented. “That’s a compliment, by the way.”

“I know,” she chuckled.

“I could’ve been earlier, actually,” he pointed out. “But, I wanted to pay a visit to Obi-Wan first.”

“Obi-Wan? Jedi Order of the Cross?”, she raised an eyebrow. “ _That_ Obi-Wan?”

“Yes, him,” he nodded. “One of the ones out to go after vampires.”

The smile faded, and she slowly nodded, “Ah, yes, him.” She smiled again after the statement, “Well, what shall we do first?”

“Catch up on stuff,” he said. “What have you been up to recently?”

“Oh, you know, it’s just the usual public engagements, and I’ve been writing up a few speeches for events,” Padmé answered. “I’ve also taken some time off to read a few books. What happened to you?”

He sighed, “Most of my men were shot in Ahmed Khel, but Major took the blame and said he could’ve positioned us better.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she frowned. “What about Lieutenant Fett? Is he alright?”

He nodded with a small, reassuring smile, “Oh, yes, he is fine. I helped him limp to safety.”

“That was brave of you,” she complimented him with a smile. “I assume the Major wasn’t mad at you?”

“He wasn’t.”

“Good thing; such bravery deserves to be rewarded, not punished.”

“I also see your typewriter is new,” he observed. “Expensive, I assume.”

“It is,” she confirmed. “I’ve gotten it two days ago since the old one was bound to break.”

“Oh, also, I remember getting a letter earlier,” he pulled said letter out of his pocket. “Do you want to read it with me?”

She smiled, “Sure.”

____________________

**Buckingham Palace**

22st April, 1880

Dear Mr. Skywalker,

The Secretary of State for War has asked me to inform you that he proposes me to submit your name to The Queen so that she may graciously approve your awarding of the Victoria Cross (VC). This decoration would be in recognition for acts of valour in the face of the enemy.

May I ask you to confirm whether you would be happy to accept the proposed award?

Please do this by completing the enclosed form and sending it, as soon as possible, in the envelope provided to Philip Morris, Honours Secretariat

I should be grateful if you could return your form to us by 29 April. If you accept the decoration, your name will be included in the List published in the London Gazette and a few other newspapers on 23 May.

…

Yours sincerely,

Philip Morris,

Honours Secretariat

____________________

Anakin muttered, “Well, I’ll be damned.”

____________________

Anakin was invited to dinner with Padmé and her parents, Prince Palpatine and Lara, Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, a few days later, and seen as he wasn’t really busy that day, he accepted it. He wasn’t able to meet Prince Palpatine much (his last meeting with him being nearly a year ago), so he accepted his offer to meet him and hopefully, have a friendly chat with the royal duke and duchess.

“Well, Your Highness, thank you for inviting me here,” Anakin said to Palpatine solemnly. “It has been a while.”

Palpatine chuckled before agreeing with him, “Indeed, son, it has been a while.”

Anakin knew that Palpatine should hold the title ‘Prince of Wales’ as he was the heir apparent but seen as his mother didn’t grant him the title, he had to settle for simply being called ‘Duke of Cornwall,’ and thus, his wife ‘Duchess of Cornwall.’ He always wondered if Palpatine didn’t like not being granted the title considering it almost always has been granted to the heir apparent.

“Have I…missed out on a lot?”, Anakin asked awkwardly.

“Not really, I’m still as young as ever,” Palpatine joked.

Indeed, Palpatine did look rather young. He was supposed to be a man in his late 40s or early 50s, but he looked like a man in his late 30s or early 40s. Anakin was rather baffled with how young the prince looked.

Anakin laughed, “I suppose I could agree with that, sir.”

“You’ve been quite busy recently, yes?”, Palpatine asked.

“Yes,” Anakin nodded. “I…paid a visit to the Afghans recently. Of course, there was a battle, and I was…quite lucky to survive. Well, not just me, but also my lieutenant. The major said it was his fault many of us were killed, and he did commend me for my bravery for helping my lieutenant to safety.”

“That is very brave of you,” Lara agreed. “I’m very sure your lieutenant will forever be thankful.”

He shrugged, a sense of pride already on his face as he smirked, “Yes, I think he would.”

Padmé giggled in response, “Oh, you’ve always been a bit of a prideful one.”

“I take that as a compliment, thank you very much,” Anakin murmured, and Padmé giggled even more, but it was less noticeable this time.

“How have you been coping after that?”, Palpatine asked concernedly.

“I’ve been doing fine, really. It’s…not something I’m not used to. Besides, I’m still on the high of _something_ , so that has been helping me cope post-battle as well,” he explained.

“I assume that _something_ is the Victoria Cross,” Palpatine raised an eyebrow with a smirk, showing he knew what Anakin was talking about.

Knowing that was supposed to remain a secret, he lied, albeit unconvincingly, “Uh, no, s-sir, that’s not it.”

The older man laughed, “Oh, Anakin, my boy, we know about it. There’s no point in trying to lie here. Besides, it’s alright.”

“O-okay,” Anakin nodded.

His lover giggled, “You deserved it anyway, Ani, it comes as no surprise to any of us.”

“It comes as no surprise to you because you’re the only other person I assumed would know about it,” Anakin pointed out dryly. “Seen as I saw the letter with you.”

There was an awkward silence for a bit before Palpatine came with an equally awkward and unusual question, “If you were given the opportunity to become a peer, what rank would you choose?”

Anakin looked to the asker, “Pardon?”

“If you were given the opportunity to become a peer, what rank would you choose?”, Palpatine repeated. “Duke, marquess, earl, viscount, or baron?”

“Uh…”, Anakin shrugged. “I don’t know, really. I suppose either duke or marquess would be my choice, and I’m considering marquess considering duke might be too difficult for someone like me.”

“I think you’d actually do fine as a duke,” Palpatine commented. "Besides, a marquess would be the grantee of a dukedom if I'm correct.

“Is there…any reason as to why you’re asking this?”

“No, no,” Palpatine shook his head in firm denial. “I’m simply just curious.”

“Oh, okay, alright.”

“Wait, wait, about the battle you were in,” Anakin turned to the speaking Lara. “You said you saved the lieutenant, correct?”

“Correct,” Anakin replied.

“Were you two the only ones that survived? What about everyone else?”

He sighed as he took a trip down recent memory lane, “They…all died, ma’am. Me and Lieutenant Fett were the only survivors. We were actually ambushed.”

“I see,” she looked down in shame, nodding slowly repeatedly. “I’m sorry for asking again. That must be hard to remember.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, it’s alright, I promise,” Anakin reassured her. “Like I said earlier, I have gone through far worse in the past, and besides, I am quite sure it can’t get any worse than this, can it?”

Palpatine slowly nodded, “Yes, it really can’t.”


	3. Chapter 3

“You…want to marry him, don’t you?”, Palpatine asked Padmé, a small smile on his face.

Padmé looked up at him before giving a small nod, “Yes, but…I’m waiting for him to make his move, and I still need Grandmother’s permission, nevertheless.”

“I see,” her father slowly nodded repeatedly. “He would make a great Vampire Prince, wouldn’t he? He’s best for you after all, princess.”

She furrowed her eyebrows, “You are not turning him, Father. You are not turning my Anakin.”

“Oh, but I will,” he smirked. “Besides, you two as my own prince and princess would be very lovely, and everyone loves a young vampire couple, don’t they? I think you two would be lovely together, and all the rest of the vampires would easily agree to that. You two will do great things together. I just know it.”

“No,” Padmé replied firmly. “Not him.”

Her father now showed his anger, “And, who are you to stop me? Might I remind you who is the stronger one here? Might I remind you who is the superior one? Now, tell me, _girl_ , which one of us here has the authority, the power?”

Padmé sighed, “You, you have the power here, Father.”

“Good,” Palpatine smiled. “Very good, dear Padmé, very good.”

“Thank you, Father,” Padmé replied sardonically.

“Now, I think now might be a good time to begin planning…”

____________________

Anakin entered the church. At this point in time, he was expecting his friend and member of the Jedi Order of the Cross, Obi-Wan Kenobi, to be praying in the church alone in peace and quiet, and when he entered, he saw him knelt by the front.

“Obi-Wan,” Anakin called. “Hello, there.”

Obi-Wan stood up and turned around to acknowledged his presence, “Well, well, if it isn’t Anakin Skywalker.”

He chuckled, “It’s been a while.”

“Not really, it hasn’t,” Obi-Wan shook his head. “It’s only been a few days, and it hasn’t felt that long because I’ve kept myself busy.”

“Still out and about slaying vampires?”, Anakin raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

He chuckled before nodding, “Yes.”

“Well, that…is your job, anyway, so what can I expect?”

“Indeed,” Obi-Wan nodded. “We caught another one a few days ago, or rather, nights ago. He was a rather difficult one, so quick and agile that he was hard to catch.”

“But, eventually, I assume you defeated him?”

“Of course, I did.”

“Mhm, yeah, alright.”

“It was a bit difficult, to say the least. It took down a few of us with his own sword. I think it was Master Luminara that he took down, but unfortunately, I don’t quite remember. It was one of the women, however,” Obi-Wan explained.

“Okay, alright.”

“So, are you here to say your prayers or to make my life worse?”

He shrugged, “Both, I suppose.”

Anakin walked over and knelt to pray himself. Anakin was a firm believer in God solely because of Obi-Wan. Of course, he was baptized and all that, but he didn’t really do much as a Christian until Obi-Wan came around and convinced him that he could do so much more as a follower of God, so he did. To help convince him, Obi-Wan promised he would tell Anakin of his adventures as a Jedi Master in the Jedi Order of the Cross if he did become more of a believer seen as Anakin was extremely intrigued with the order.

When he finished his prayer, he stood up again, “So, how’s Ahsoka?”

“Oh, she’s fine. Well, not really, actually, as she’s been quite hurt from another one of our hunting sessions, but she is recovering quickly.”

“Good to hear, and what about Satine?”

Marchioness Satine Kryze was and still is Obi-Wan’s lover. Members of the Jedi Order were discouraged from forming attachments, but they weren’t necessarily not allowed to. Obi-Wan had only met her by accident, and it was one of Anakin’s favorite stories, really. The two have been together for about four years now, and every once in a while, Anakin would try and convince Obi-Wan to pop the question seen as it was clear the two would be well together. Obi-Wan once stated that him marrying her would mean he’d have to give up his life in the Order for nobility, but Anakin replied with saying that it was his choice to take which job he wanted (he could do both if he wanted).

“Well, she’s actually fine,” Obi-Wan replied. “I was able to meet with her yesterday.”

“Really?”

“Really, we had a lovely evening if I’m being honest.”

“Yes,” Anakin sighed before rolling his eyes. “I’m sure you did.”

“You seem like you don’t like my answer,” the older man observed. “Well, if you somehow, then just…deal with it. I mean, you asked the question.”

“Yes, yes, I know, I know.”

“There’s still a lot of vampires in this world,” Obi-Wan said with a small sigh. “The Order has a lot of work to do if it wants to eradicate them all. These vampires, they can be right under your noses, so my only advice is…for you to be careful, even your closest friends could be one, so watch yourself, alright?”

“Yep,” Anakin nodded.

Obi-Wan smiled and patted his shoulder, “Well, come on, I have a lot of things in mind for what we can do.”

____________________

It was roughly a few days later when Anakin was able to meet Padmé again. He hoped she wouldn’t be in a bad mood today, even though such a thing rarely ever happened. Normally, whenever he’d visit her on a quiet afternoon, she’d be busy reading a book on her bed, and when he’d come over, she’d share the book, and they’d read it together and talk about it together. He hoped she had something new for him.

“Hello, Padmé,” he greeted.

She beamed at him as they made eye contact, “Anakin.”

“It seems as though you’re reading something,” he referred to the book she was holding onto.

She nodded with a smile, “Yes, come over, sit next to me, we can read this together.”

“Alright,” he happily obliged and sat next to her on the bed. “So, what is this about?”

“Well, this book is about vampires, their history, abilities, where they live, and how they live. It’s obviously not proofread, but it is still an interesting read, at least for me,” she explained. “It was a gift to me from Father recently, but I never got the time off to read it if I’m being honest. I have a lot of work, but today is one of those lucky days.”

He smirked, “I can tell.”

“Well, let’s get reading. It’s not long, but I do want to get going with this.”

____________________

**VAMPIRES**

**BASIC INFORMATION**

Vampires are a type of specie strikingly similar to humans. They are mostly known for having a pair of canines, red eyes, and their need to drink on blood as a method of survival. Throughout the years, the vampire specie has increased tenfold in numbers, and at some point, have learned to hide their canines and red eyes, and thus, are able to hide and dwell within the human community, making it more difficult for Jedi to hunt them down.

Vampires are known to be immortal, only aging up until young adulthood if made a vampire or already is one before their middle ages. While vampires can quickly heal their wounds, they are known to have few weaknesses that may lead to their death: sunlight, a stake to the heart, a Holy Sword, and beheading. A stake is the most commonly exploited weakness, used as a way for some to defend themselves against vampires.

They are known to have many different types of abilities. One of the widely known ones is their ability to conceal their differentiating characteristics (such as canines and red eyes) and even change their facial and body structure. They are also said to be extremely intelligent and are physically capable, much more than the average human, able to withstand the challenges of both the hardest of exams and buildings.

A human can be made into a vampire if the vampire is able to take all of their blood and replace it with blood of their own. Jedi, with the help of God’s blessing, are known to be able to resist vampiric blood and may rather die instead of being turned into a vampire, but they may still be turned into a vampire should they, to put it simply, _give consent_ to aforementioned vampire to turn them.

A vampire may also come from having parents with vampiric blood. If one of a child’s parents is a vampire, he or she will be a half-vampire. Half-vampires are generally similar to full vampires, but they are generalized as being weaker versions of full vampires. If both parents are vampires, the child will be born a full vampire. Generally speaking, the lesser vampiric blood one has, the weaker they are, but all of them lack basic human needs such as food and water.


	4. Chapter 4

Padmé entered the room, looking ashamed and guilty, “Father, it is done.”

Palpatine turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow, “What- what is done?”

She raised an eyebrow herself, “The first part of the plan.”

“Oh, yes, of course,” her father chuckled. “That is well and good, my dear. Me and your mother are…very pleased, indeed.”

“Do I have something you want me to do next?”, Padmé asked, showing clear signs of not wanting to continue this conversation for any longer. “I have…stuff I want to do.”

“Oh, no, no,” he shook his head. “We’re alright now. You may go now if you are busy, dear. I won’t really be needing you for the time being, and besides, I have to head off to Buckingham Palace to talk to a few…visitors and do some, well, _convincing_.”

“Okay,” she gave a small nod. “Thank you, Father, I’ll see you soon.”

____________________

**INTERMISSION**

____________________

**VAMPIRES**

**HISTORY**

The first vampire was discovered in 1300 AD, and due to a lack of an evident name, he was subsequently called ‘Darth Dracula.’ The style of ‘Darth’ was a less rumoured name of the first vampire, and as of right now, is utilized as the vampiric equivalent of a monarch or a monarch’s spouse. He was defeated by Grand Master Yoda, the first member of the Jedi Order of the Cross, and as such, his eldest son rose into power.

For roughly two centuries, both the vampires and the Jedi have increased in numbers and have promptly decreased as the two sides seek to take down one another. Eventually, it was rumoured that the reigning Darth (named Darth Plagueis) had been killed, and all heirs were killed. As such, the ‘royal family’ of the vampires was said to have been defeated, but rumours are Darth Plagueis had taken in a middle-aged vampire and named him his apprentice. Due to this, said apprentice would likely be considered the ruler of the vampires.

In the current day, vampires dwell within the human society, making it far more difficult for the Jedi to catch them, and due to this, everyone is encouraged to remain vigilant and remain on the lookout for species such as them. Right now, the reigning vampire is being referred to as Darth Sidious, and there are two known heirs called by most as Lady Amidala and Lord Vader.

____________________

Padmé was just outside of Sola’s room. Sola was her twin sister, but since Padmé came out first, she was ahead of her in the claim to the throne. Despite them being twins, it wasn’t unusual for Sola to act like a big sister to Padmé as she had a calmer and more collected personality compared to Padmé who was genuinely more sensitive at youth. Like Padmé, Sola had been turned as well, and like Padmé, she didn’t like her father’s plans.

She entered the room, “Sola?”

Sola smiled at her, “Padmé.” She then came over to give her a relaxed hug. “Well, well, my dear sister, what brings you here?”

“Nothing much,” Padmé shook her head. “I’m just trying to get my mind off of Father’s antics.”

“I feel you,” Sola chuckled lightly. “I would do the same.”

“Has Father tasked you with anything recently?”, Padmé asked. “I have a feeling he has.”

She sighed, “He has.”

“What is it?”

“No, my bad, I’m actually already done with it.”

Padmé raised an eyebrow, “Is it the one with my book?”

“The final changes? Yes, that one.”

“Ah, I see,” she slowly nodded. “I’m just curious: Is it my fault Anakin’s brought into this mess?”

Sola shrugged before sighing, “Father had the ultimatum that any lover you had would be his apprentice, his heir, and more importantly, your husband, but it’s not your fault because you’re just finding love in life.”

“Part of me wants to try to split with him,” Padmé said. “But, the moment Father learns about it, he’ll just bug me into reconnecting with him, and I also don’t want to split with him. I love him, and that’s what’ll ruin him.” Padmé cried into her hands.

“No,” Sola replied firmly. “This is not your fault, Padmé, and what’ll ruin him is Father. Besides, when he truly does get turned, we can still help him learn how to be one of us. Maybe he could help us take down Father. I’ve never really been against vampires, just against Father.”

“Yes, I know,” Padmé nodded. “But, you know as well as I do that we can’t take down Father. A king is not easily slain, dear sister.”

“With Anakin’s help, it may be possible.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

____________________

Anakin had just finished off a meeting with his superiors and was now headed to see his mother, Shmi Skywalker. He knew that Shmi had recently been invited to the palace for, funny enough, reasons he didn’t know, but still, he could think of many different reasons as to why she was invited. In fact, he even considered himself to be one of the reasons she was invited there.

He knocked on the door, “Ma?”

He could hear someone making their way to the door before it was eventually opened to reveal her mother, Shmi, “Anakin.” She smiled at her son.

Anakin smiled as well before getting inside and pulling her in for a hug, “Ma, it’s been a while.”

“It really has,” he could feel a few tears rolling down. “I was so worried about you. I haven’t seen you in ages.”

He laughed sheepishly, “Yeah, that was my fault. I think I could’ve visited earlier, really, but I’ve been prioritizing on…other things. I’m sorry.”

She nodded as they finished their hug, “It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re alright. It could’ve been a lot worse, you know?”

He placed his belongings on a table nearby, “Yes, I know.” He then adjusted the curtains to let in more light. “It’s a little too dark in here.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“So, what happened in that battle?”, she asked. “I’ve heard a lot, you know.”

“Yes, I know,” he sighed and nodded before looking up with a small smile. “I’ve been getting a lot of praise recently because…I helped Rex limp back to, you know, safety. I wasn’t expect, and in fact, I was expecting trouble, but I guess not. I’m lucky, I guess.”

“You’re being awarded, aren’t you?”, she asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied compulsively.

She rolled her eyes and sighed, “I know about it, Ani. This Prince Palpatine told me about it when I visited. It was one of the many things he told me, actually.”

“Oh,” he laughed sheepishly.

She hugged him lightly and gave him a small kiss on the cheek, “I’m proud of you, Ani. Anyway, how have you been with Padmé?”

He slowly brought up a smile, “We’ve been doing great. We’re kind of at a stalemate, not really moving the relationship around much, but if I’m happy and she’s happy, then I suppose it’s all fine.”

“How long have you two been lovers now?”, she asked.

“Two years, roughly,” he answered. “We’ve been together for…quite some time now, actually.”

“And, how are you feeling about her now?”

“What do you mean?”, he raised an eyebrow.

“I mean, when you say you love her, exactly how much?”

“Uh,” he stopped for a moment, trying to think of an answer. “Well, I love her so much to…the point that I want to spend my life with her, grow up, grow old, and raise kids. Our children would be most beautiful, that’s for sure. I’m very happy with her, and that’s how I feel about her now. If you really just wanted to hear me go on about how much I love her, there you have it.”

She began to smile, “Well, if that’s the case, wouldn’t you want to marry her? Propose?”

“I do,” he confirmed. “But, for one thing, I would need Her Majesty’s permission, and for another, I would need to go out and buy an engagement ring for her. It would’ve been easier off if I was royalty, and I would have many free choices, but that is not the case for me.”

“Do you have enough to buy that?”

“An engagement ring?”, he shrugged. “I suppose I do, but I haven’t calculated it yet.”

“If you want to, I could always lend you money, likely around half or a quarter of what you’d expect to need to buy a ring.”

“You’d…really do that?”

“Mhm,” she nodded with a smile. “You want this, and if you ask me, I really think you should go for it.”

“Wait, wait, wait, hold on, haven’t you always been somewhat…skeptical about my relationship with her?”, he asked. “Why are you, all of a sudden, convincing me to marry her? It’s not that I’m not happy you’re finally looking up to this, but there has to be some sort of reason.”

“Well, I’d hazard to guess that the reason why is because I was wrong,” she admitted. “Something in me is telling me that you should really go for this because I think- no, I **know** that the both of you want this, and I really shouldn’t hold you back on this, Ani. She’ll make you happy, and I know you’ll do the same for her, so what’s the worst that could happen?”

“That’s not exactly the best explanation, but okay,” he nodded. “When I find more free time, I think I’ll go out and look for a ring. Do you think she’ll say yes?”

She replied, “I know she’ll say yes.”


	5. Chapter 5

It was a few days before the Birthday Honours when Anakin would come by a jewelry store to look for an engagement ring. At this point, he had more than enough money to purchase an engagement ring for her, and while he had the feeling that he could buy it with his own money, he decided to take Shmi’s offered money anyway. After all, he could use some money, especially considering preparations for the wedding (if she were to say yes, which he really hoped she would) would be quite big as Padmé is a princess and is, even more so, the third-in-line to the British throne.

He pushed open the door to the jewelry store. The place was relatively dirty and dusty, but Anakin shrugged it off as there was a woman wearing a sage-colored dress who was busy cleaning the place up anyway. The woman gave a small, welcoming smile to which Anakin replied with a small nod before he looked back to the shelves full of jewelry by the wall to the left. He walked over and began examining the displayed jewelry. There were numerous necklaces and bracelets, but he couldn’t find any rings that he could purchase, leading to a frown from him.

He turned to the woman cleaning the floor, “Uh, excuse me?”

She acknowledged, “Yes?”

“You work here, right?”

“Mhm,” she nodded.

“Do you have any rings anywhere around here? Something for an engagement.”

She gave another nod before pointing to the shelves on the other side of the room, “Over there.”

“Thank you,” he walked to the other shelves to see them. “Let us see what we have here.”

There were a few of them on display. One of them was bronze and had little to no small details, and he noticed it was cheaper than the others, but he knew a ring like that wasn’t meant for Padmé. He was hoping for a simple yet elegant ring, knowing ‘simple yet elegant’ was what Padmé liked. Another ring was golden and had much intricate detail, and he noticed it was also quite expensive. He liked how it looked, but he doubted Padmé would like it. He looked through a few more before finding a silver ring. It had a few intricate details, but it wasn’t too few. It also had a small jewel on top to finish the look. He looked at the price. It was pricey, but it was nowhere near the price of the golden one.

Anakin slowly nodded, “This seems like a good choice.”

____________________

Anakin was trembling in fear when he’d planned a dinner with Queen Victoria. It would be happening a few days after the Birthday Honours, so he already had the Victoria Cross with him. He did some research and learned that it was perfectly fine for him to wear his decoration with formal attire, and he placed it on his left with the help of a metal bar. He had a small feeling that Her Majesty already knew of what he was seeking as his relationship with Padmé was quite popular now, and many of his colleagues pointed that out as the days passed.

He knew he’ll have to talk to Prince Palpatine and Princess Lara soon, but he decided to go for The Queen’s permission first. Besides, he had a very good feeling that the prince and princess would let him marry his daughter.

“Your Majesty,” Anakin greeted her with a small bow of his neck. “Good evening.”

She smiled lightly, more of a formal one rather than a genuine, “Good evening, Mr. Skywalker. Come, take a seat, dinner’s almost starting.”

There was a bit of silence as they ate before The Queen spoke up again, “So, I’d guess you’re here looking for something, exactly what is it?”

“I wish to ask for permission for something,” he answered unspecifically.

“Which is…?”, she raised an eyebrow as she looked at the younger man.

He went for a deep breath before answering, “Permission to marry your granddaughter, Padmé.”

She slowly nodded, “Well, I have heard a lot about you two. Of course, I never really got the chance to see you much, but my son, Palpatine, has.”

“Okay,” he replied weakly.

“I’ve talked to him much about you, and…ever since I first asked you, all he’s been doing is praising you, and after what you did around a month ago, I now see where all of that is coming from. In fact, he once told me he’d love to see the day you two get married. Now, I feel like that’s something I’d look forward to myself.”

“So, a-are you saying that…”

“Yes,” she nodded. “You have my permission. I’d say you have my son’s permission as well, but it always helps to make sure. I wish you good luck in proposing to her.”

Anakin stopped himself from openly gaping. _It was really that easy? My goodness._

“T-thank you, ma’am,” he replied simply.

____________________

**INTERMISSION**

____________________

**VAMPIRES**

**RULING FAMILY**

The vampires are all led by a ruling family. While there are no official names, they have been given numerous names, majority reaching popularity and being generally agreed on.

 **Darth:** ‘Darth’ is a title given to the ruling vampire and his/her spouse, being the equivalent of a King and Queen. Back then, Darth was considered to be the first vampire’s name, but ever since, it has been considered as the title for the most powerful vampire that rules over the rest of its specie. All Darths are styled ‘His/Her Majesty.’

 **Prince:** ‘Prince’ is a title given to the male descendants of the ruling vampire and to the spouse of a princess, relatively similar in purpose to a Prince of the United Kingdom today. Princes are known to be of high importance in the vampire community, and due to being the offspring of the ruler, is known to be extremely powerful. A vampire prince has a claim to the throne and will take it should they be next in line and the ruler dies. All princes are styled ‘Lord.’

 **Princess:** ‘Princess’ is a title given to the female descendants of the ruling vampire and to the spouse of a prince, relatively similar in purpose to a Princess of the United Kingdom today. Princesses are known to be of high importance in the vampire community, and due to being the offspring of the ruler, is known to be extremely powerful. A vampire princess has a claim to the throne and will take it should they be next in line and the ruler dies. All princesses are styled ‘Lady.’

 **Lord:** ‘Lord’ is a title given to close friends and loyal allies of the ruling vampire and/or his/her spouse. While not necessarily a part of the immediate ruling family, they are considered to have authority over many vampires within the community. They have no claim to the throne. All lords are titled simply as ‘Lord’ for males and ‘Lady’ for females.

____________________

It was a few days after the birthday honours when Anakin got to meet Prince Palpatine. The good news was he’d gotten his permission to marry his daughter, and now, it was time for him to propose. She was free that afternoon, so he paid her a visit then.

“Padmé,” he called her as he entered the room, tapping his pocket to make sure the ring and its small box was still there with him.

“Ani,” she smiled at him. “I’m glad to see you again.”

He chuckled as he kept walking to her, “Me, too.”

“So, what brings you here?”, Padmé asked.

“Oh, nothing much,” he shrugged. “I just decided to drop by seen as I didn’t have much to do. Work hasn’t been a bother for quite sometime now, and I really hope it keeps going that way.”

“I hope it keeps going that way, too,” she replied. “Today’s been a quiet day for me, really.”

“My day’s been quite as well.”

“Were you hoping to…talk about something? I’m, well, up for a conversation as of the moment,” she pointed out. “It would help brighten up my day.”

He smirked, “I thought my presence already brightens up your day.”

“It does,” she confirmed. “But, I was hoping to make it even brighter, you know?”

He laughed, “Okay, alright. Anyway, I have something for you.”

“What is it?”

“Just stand,” he stood up himself before she did. “Okay, now close your eyes.”

She obliged, and Anakin pulled the small wooden box out before getting down on one knee and opening it, “Open your eyes now.”

She gasped, “Oh, Anakin…”

He chuckled and smiled before reciting his speech, “Dear Padmé, my life has been a bit of a mess, I will admit, but I always felt there was something with you that day that I met you. I fell in love with you much faster than I could ever, and our love’s only been getting better ever since. I want to wake up by your side and to grow old with you, and two years now, and I’m very much ready to finally ask you: Padmé, will you marry me?”

She was practically gaping at him for a while before finally answering with a slow nod, “Yes, Ani, yes.”

He let out a sigh of relief and stood up to slide the silver ring onto her finger, “There you go.” He then held onto one of her hands before giving her a quick, heartfelt kiss on the lips.

She examined the ring, “It’s beautiful, Ani. You picked so well.”

“That’s good to know,” he gave another sigh of relief. “I had far too many options at the store.”

“Well, you picked the perfect one,” she said before wiping off a few tears. “It’s beautiful.”

“Thanks for that.”

“I love you,” she murmured as she continued to examine the ring.

“I love you, too.”

“I can’t believe we’re getting married,” she mused. “I love you. I really, really do.”

He laughed again, “I really, really love you, too, and just for the record, I am very sure we can raise a lovely family together.”

“I can agree with that. They’ll also be quite good-looking,” she smirked.

He smirked too, “The combined efforts of Princess Padmé of Cornwall and Anakin Skywalker.”

She giggled and sighed happily.


	6. Chapter 6

Padmé noticed her father entering the room, “Father.”

“Padmé,” he replied. “So, I heard you two are getting married now.”

“Yes,” she replied weakly, slowly nodding before letting out a small sigh. “We are getting married.

He cackled before slowly clapping, “Good, good, my dear, I can sense young Skywalker being ours very soon. You’ve done very well.”

“What…do you have planned for him?”, she asked, her voice still soft.

He hummed before answering, “You two will be staying in the Varykino House for your little honeymoon. I shall have him be brought to the castle after that, and by the time he returns, he shall be one of us. Perhaps I should also give him a few clues at Varykino, maybe play with him for a bit as well, I’m not sure.”

“I see.”

“Your wedding will take place in a month on the field near here. I assume you’ve told him I will handle everything?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “That’s what I told.”

“Good, like I said, I’ll take care of everything. You should wear that lavish white dress of yours. I am very sure it still fits, but if not, just tell me.”

“What must I do now?”

“Nothing much, perhaps try and bring him in more,” Palpatine stated. “Just make sure nothing goes wrong before now and the wedding. I should also probably push the assassination. Maybe I should look for advice from your sister for that.”

“Yes, Father.”

____________________

**INTERMISSION**

____________________

**VAMPIRES**

**MUSTAFAR CASTLE**

Mustafar Castle is known as the castle and home of the ruling family. While the vampires have no known lands which their specie reside in openly, it has been widely known that somewhere in England, a castle is hidden wherein the ruling family reside in, protected from all sorts of attacks and attempts to be taken down. The castle has been described in many different ways, but one has notably stood out:

The castle has been described as “fiery, hellish, dark, and abundant in red.” It is also said to be very large, larger than most modern palaces, and it resembles castles from the medieval times. It is said to be guarded by medieval-looking knights, and most say that underneath their masks are the fanged vampires feared by many.

____________________

Prince Palpatine was looking through his belongings, and eventually, he took the sword from his locked cabinet, and he slid it into his leather scabbard. He then hid it inside a large bag before getting a few more things and leaving his room to confront his mother, Queen Victoria. His mother was often occupied and would be speaking to many people, but now, she would only be talking to one woman, and said woman would be the one they’d all accuse.

_Enter room._

_Lock the door._

_Knock woman unconscious._

_Stab Mother with sword._

_Fake the pain._

_Awaken woman._

_Call for help._

_Accuse the woman of killing Mother._

“Finally,” he murmured. “It’s really taken me long enough.”

He entered the room, “Hello, Mother.”

“Ah, Palpatine,” she replied with a small smile, and the woman was busy helping her with her hair and yellow dress. “Do come in.”

He smiled and entered, leaving his bag on the floor, “Thank you, Mother.” He then made sure the door would stay shut.

“So, what brings you here?”, she asked. “I hope it’s something interesting.”

“It is, but I don’t think she’ll be here to listen,” he referred to the woman helping his mother out, and with a flick of the hand, she flew to the wall, hitting it hard.

His mother looked at him, eyes widened, “W-what did you do?”

Instead of answering, he revealed his red eyes, canines, and long nails, and his mother reacted promptly by hissing, “ _Vampire_ …”

He smiled mockingly, “Oh, I’m glad you know, Mother.”

“What have they done to you, my son?”, she asked weakly.

He shrugged, “I don’t know, and I don’t think they will either. I would like to add a bit of dramatics, however.”

The Queen was sat there, still in fear as Palpatine took the scabbard out and unsheathed his sword, “No…”

He cackled before stabbing down on her stomach, and blood came flooding out. A punch on the head was sure to finish her off. He could hear her last few breaths as blood trickled down the dress, reddening what was once a bright and almost joyful yellow. He then spoke up in a low voice, “Thank you for everything, Mother. I can take it from here.”

He then fell back and sat against the wall, acting as if he was in extreme pain, “AGGGHHHHH!”. He gestured for the fallen woman to wake up, and she woke up full of disbelief as she registered the sight. Palpatine then crawled and pulled the door open before shouting into the hallway, “HELP! HELP!”

Men and women alike came to help the fallen prince, and Palpatine pointed to the stabbed queen before choking and pointing to the confused woman, “Her, her, she…killed her. I…did all I could, but she overpowered…m-me.”

“NO, NO, NO, IT WAS-“

The pleads of the woman was cut off by her getting tackled by numerous attending men.

When the mess began to calm down, Palpatine was sat down on the chair next to the one his mother died on, and that was when the Archbishop of Canterbury entered the room, “Your Royal Highness.”

“Yes?”, Palpatine turned to look at him.

“I…think you are well aware of Her Majesty’s death. Due to this, you are to take the throne, sir. Are you to take it?”

He sighed as if this was the one thing he didn’t want and nodded, “Yes.”

“Very well.”

____________________

It was the day before Anakin and Padmé’s wedding. Both of them were rather unfazed by The Queen’s death as Anakin had no big connection to her and had good faith in Palpatine, and Padmé was unfazed as she’d seen this coming from a mile away. This came as no surprise to the now-heir presumptive to the throne. Anakin was called on for a ‘present’ of some sort, so he visited the palace with formal attire as usual. It was then that he learned that he would be made a peer and would be given a noble title.

As told, he knelt down as the now-King Palpatine came in front of him with numerous nobles surrounding him. Anakin looked up at the king expectantly.

“Anakin Skywalker, I grant you and the heirs, male of your body, lawfully begotten, the dignities of Baron Kingsdown, Earl of Falmouth, and Duke of Edinburgh. And a Knight Companion of our Most Noble Order of the Garter.” A sword tapped his left shoulder then his right. The star was pinned to his left breast, and Anakin, for a moment, looked down onto it with a feeling of pride washing over him for a moment. He noticed Palpatine was waiting for him to stand, so he did.

Palpatine offered his hand to shake, so he did, “Congratulations, son.”

“Thank you,” he replied. Palpatine gave one last smile before turning around to leave the room. Anakin let out a relieved smile and sigh as everyone else began to leave the room, all following the king.

Padmé was waiting for him outside the room, wearing a relaxed pink dress. Anakin smirked at her before pulling out a friction match and smoking it. She then sighed as she sat down on a chair nearby.

“When are you ever going to stop smoking? You know how much I hate it,” she said.

He shrugged, “Tomorrow, I suppose. I think you and I both know I’ll be giving up much to be with you.”

“You have about a day to change your mind,” she quipped. “I am simply saying.”

He shook his head, “I don’t think I’ll be doing that, at least not any time soon.”

She giggled as Anakin came over to kiss her cheek, “You really won’t be regretting a woman like me?”. Her smile faltered for a moment.

“I don’t think so,” he shook his head. “I am already imagining the many things we could do together.”

Padmé gave him a short, sympathetic look before replying with slow nods, “We’d definitely make lovely children.”

“Well, for now, I think it might be a better idea for us to enjoy the married life for now before things get much worse.”

She chuckled, “I agree. Varykino House will definitely be a lovely place to stay in for a few days.”

“Indeed.”

“Do you have anything in mind for what we can do when we are there?”, she asked, raising an eyebrow. “If you don’t, I do have some ideas of my own.”

He smirked again, “I think we should make some sweet, sweet love.”

She rolled her eyes but smiled at him anyway, “That sounds like a very good idea. I have been very excited to see what you have in store for me.”

“Me, too,” he replied. “And, I promise you, Your Highness, you will not be disappointed.”


	7. Chapter 7

The day before the marriage and after Anakin’s granting of titles, he had also been informed that he would be granted the style of _His Royal Highness_ , so he had put together the fact that his title would now be _His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh_. Padmé asked Anakin how he’d felt about the titles, and Anakin replied with saying that he was more than happy and content with it. Padmé was happy as well knowing she’ll win herself the title of _Duchess of Edinburgh_ , and her title now would be _Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Edinburgh_. Surely, things could get better.

The marriage was quickly prepared, but it was indeed grander than he’d have thought. Anakin came in wearing a simple black suit, but Padmé would later say it fit him very well. Padmé, on the other hand, was wearing an intricately detailed wedding dress, and her look was finished off with a lovely tiara. Anakin was admittedly intimidated and felt overshadowed by his outstanding bride, but he shrugged that thought of knowing she would be his bride, and he would be her groom. Today would be their day. It wasn’t just his or hers, it was for both of them.

Padmé was being escorted by her father as was tradition, and Anakin was standing by the front, trying to keep his smile (he wanted to look formal) and tears in as she walked serenely to him. At some point, while he could still hold the tears back, he couldn’t hold back his smile, but he was relieved that nobody would say anything about it. Padmé smiled as the two made eye contact. “You look gorgeous, my angel. I am so glad to be marrying you,” he said, barely heard by anyone except her, and her smile simply widened in response.

Not long after that, they said their vows, and many eyebrows were raised when one of Padmé’s vows included her saying she would obey Anakin. Everyone eventually shrugged it off. Anakin was admittedly surprised at her vow to obey, but he accepted it, nevertheless. Padmé had a small smile all throughout Anakin’s vows, but her smile faltered the moment Anakin said he would grow old with her. Eventually, the rings came along, and the kiss as well. They exited the ceremony happily.

____________________

They were on their carriage, being brought to Varykino House. Padmé had told Anakin of how lovely Varykino House was, and since it was a luxurious vacation house, he quickly believed her. The trip was shorter than expected, and Anakin was not wrong to believe Padmé’s sayings of how beautiful the house would be because it really was a beautiful place to stay in.

The house was coated in white to go well with the dark-colored roof, and there were windows all over the place. It also had a lovely garden in front. It was almost like a mansion as it was much, much larger than Anakin thought.

“So, what do you think?”, Padmé asked as the two were being led into the house. “Is it nice? I think it is.”

“I think it is, too,” he agreed with a small smile. “I love it. I really have to give it to your father for getting this ready for us. I was not expecting this.” He looked down to the baggage he had with him as they walked.

“We’ll be staying here for three days,” she pointed out. “So, enjoy it.”

“I sure will, my lady,” he teased.

She groaned, “You are welcome.”

“Well, what do you say we begin looking around the place and see what it has in store for us?”, he offered. “We might as well get started.”

____________________

**INTERMISSION**

____________________

**VAMPIRES**

**ARTIFACTS**

Throughout the years, many vampire artifacts have been taken in by people. Some may be their distinct body parts whereas others may be their equipment or belongings.

A few years ago, a vampire skull has been retrieved by the Jedi Order of the Cross, and they have stated that this comes from Darth Dracula, the first vampire. Unfortunately, this skull has recently disappeared. The skull is said to be majorly similar to that of a human with the exception of the pair of canines in its mouth.

Numerous vampire swords have been taken in as well. They are considered to be generally sturdier than an average sword and is of equal power to a Holy Sword used by the Jedi Order of the Cross. It is unknown as to how these are made, but its blade is said to be longer than the average sword. If its wielder is strong enough, it may even be able to break a manmade sword.

Around ten years ago, vampiric robes were found as well. Most assume these were worn by the ruling family wherever they reside in. These robes were said to be of similar color to those worn by the peerage but slightly darker. Still, they remain very similar to that of the United Kingdom’s.

Not long after finding vampiric robes, a coronet was found as well. Most assume vampiric prince and princesses would wear these, and like the robes, they were relatively similar to those used in the United Kingdom but slightly darker.

____________________

Their first day was quite enjoyable for the both of them. There was a large swimming pool outside, and they put it to good use. Padmé wasn’t nearly as good of a swimmer as Anakin was, but she was happy for her husband to teach her. After getting themselves cleaned up, they played a relaxing game of chess, something that Padmé destroyed Anakin in, and after an extravagant dinner, the two ended off the day with sweet love.

Anakin and Padmé were laid in bed, close to falling asleep, but Anakin decided to run one last bit of conversation, “Padmé?”

“Hm?”

“What should we do tomorrow?”, he asked. “We should probably get at least a bit of planning in.”

“Well, there’s a few…artifacts around here, and I think I will show you a few of them,” she murmured.

He nodded, “Okay.” He kissed the back of her head. “Goodnight, dear angel.”

She smiled lightly, “Goodnight, Anakin.”

____________________

It was the following day, and today was the day Padmé decided to bring Anakin to see some artifacts in the house. They had just finished breakfast and went straight to the basement to see what was on display.

Padmé led Anakin through a bunch of somewhat dark rooms until they entered a larger room, albeit with a bit of dirt.

“Wow,” Anakin glanced around the room. “This is a lot.”

“It is,” she chuckled. “I don’t know why a vacation house would have much on display, but here we are.”

She then pointed to a sword by the wall, “Do you see that over there? That’s one of the oldest swords we have. I don’t know how long it dates back, but it’s old. It is also quite dirty now.” The sword was rusty and dirty due to age.

“I can tell.”

“It’s been through a lot if you ask me,” she said. “I don’t know the history around it though.”

He nodded, “Me neither.”

She rolled her eyes, “Obviously.”

The two walked over to a skull, “This right here, I don’t know whose skull that is.” She pointed to a skull nearby.

“Interesting,” Anakin stroked his chin, noticing the canine teeth it has. “Do you know where it came from?”

She shook her head, “No.”

“Okay.”

“It is an interesting one though,” she added, electing to disregard the canine teeth selling exactly what it was. “Let’s move on, I think there are some more interesting things around here.”

Padmé then pointed to another sword, although this sword was slightly longer than the norm, “Here’s another…historical sword. It’s slightly longer, however, I will admit.”

“Do you know the history behind this one?”

She sighed before shaking her head, “Unfortunately not, I have not been down here before as all that I know about this before entering was merely the fact that it existed.”

“Ah, I see. You are right though, it is slightly longer,” he agreed, observing the blade’s length. “Blades usually aren’t that long. The longer the blade is, the harder it is to control.”

“You make a very good point, Ani,” she gave a light smile. “Anyway, moving on now.” She led Anakin to a shelf full of books.

“So, what are these then?”

“These aren’t really artifacts, but they are interesting reads. All of these books are old, and most of them are romantic if they are ever your type.”

He shook his head, “Romance is not my type.”

She shrugged, “I can understand that. Men like you usually aren’t interested in such things, I will admit. I am, however.”

“Have you read one of them recently?”

“No,” she answered. “Though I have read one from my own library, and it’s called _Across the Stars_. It’s a story of forbidden love. It’s a great read.”

“Forbidden love? Interesting concept, I will say,” he admitted. “Oh, well, I suppose that’s it here. I don’t see much else in this place that seems interesting, at least in my personal opinion.”

“Yes, I suppose this is the end of the line,” she sighed. “I think it might be best that we go now. There are so much more we can do today than see the same things over and over again.”

He laughed, “You make a very good point.” Despite how happy the newlywed man may seem, he couldn’t help but feel that there was something wrong and suspicious about this place. Something very suspicious.


	8. Chapter 8

Padmé was standing on the balcony as she woke up early, looking at the sun rising over by the horizon. Anakin was still soundly asleep when she went there, and she went there to look back at what she would do to him. She knew that ever since she was made into a vampire by her coldhearted father, her lover would be doomed to the same fate as her. While she had never considered vampires to be inherently evil, if her father would remain the ruler of the vampires, the humans would never give them respect. She had many ideas on how she could bring humans and vampires together to coexist, but since she wasn’t the ruler, her ideas would never see the light of day.

She knew that Sola agreed with her saying Father was evil and that peace would never come with their father in charge. She knew that Sola wanted to take down Father together, but if it was just the two of them, they’d stand no chance. Father ruled all the vampires, he ruled _them_ , and two of them would not be enough to take him down. Padmé had dreams of ruling alongside her husband, and they’d go by as Darth Vader and Amidala of the Vampires. She hated dooming Anakin to this, but she might still have a way to make things better.

Just as she sighed, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her, and a pair of lips softly sucked on the side of her neck. The warmth of her husband’s body making contact with her made her melt, and a wave of relief and calm washed over her. Padmé smiled and hummed as Anakin nibbled on her earlobe. “What a lovely sight, isn’t it?”, he murmured before letting out a small laugh. “Good morning, Padmé.”

“Good morning, Anakin,” she replied, her lips curling up into a smile. “How was sleep?”

“Well, I slept like a baby.”

She giggled, “Is that a good thing or a bad thing.”

He shrugged, “Something good, I would guess. What are you doing up so early?”

“A struggle to get some sleep, I suppose. In all fairness though, the view is nice.”

“It is,” he agreed. “Though I wouldn’t say it’s the best view of all?”

“Why is that so?”

“The best view is standing right in front of me.”

She blushed, “I think not.”

“Oh, I beg to differ, dear wife.”

She sighed before shrugging, “Oh well, I know better than to argue with you, so I suppose I’ll agree.”

He laughed, “You’re my wife, you don’t have to force yourself to agree with me, but maybe you should this time because that is a compliment.”

“Mm, good point. Do you realize this is our last day here?”

He slowly nodded, frowning, “Yes, I have to admit, I will miss it here. I wish we could live here forever.”

“Me, too.”

“But, we do have to get on with our lives at some point. We have a duty to this country, after all.”

“Indeed.”

“I wonder if our meal is ready yet.”

“Not yet.”

“Would you like to go back to bed then?”, he offered, smirking. “My lips ache for yours.”

She giggled before nodding, “With pleasure.”

____________________

The silver-armored vampiric knights opened the gates, and Sola walked into the castle. Palpatine was already inside, and she was there to help him get everything else ready. She then looked to their butler, “Where exactly is my father?”

The butler turned around and gave a small neck bow, “Ah, His Majesty is in his quarters, Lady Aveehla.”

“Thank you,” Sola gave a small nod.

She walked for a bit before ending up in her father’s room, “Father, I am here.”

Palpatine turned around, noticing the sword and skull with her, “Ah, you brought it back, good thing. I would guess both of these paid a visit to Varykino House?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “Padmé let Anakin see it. You said you wanted to play with him, and that is done.”

“Good, good.”

“Must I do anything next, Father?”

He shook his head, “No, no, no, princess, this is well and good. You may take a little rest now, you wouldn’t want to miss the coming of a new prince, wouldn’t you?”

“No, I wouldn’t. I really would never miss it for the world,” she lied dryly before leaving her father alone for the time being. “Do call me if you need anything.”

“Yes, yes, I will.”

____________________

Anakin and Padmé were busy placing their baggage onto their carriage as they were about to leave and would be set off, headed back into the palace Padmé would be staying in. Since Anakin had finished putting his baggage in first, he helped Padmé put hers, and after that, the two got onto the carriage and would begin their trip back to the palace they’d stay in.

“This trip might be a bit longer than usual, for the record,” the coachman pointed out.

“That is fine,” Padmé assured him before looking at her husband. “I hope you don’t mind, Anakin.”

He shook his head, “That would be fine, no worries here.”

“So, anything interesting you’d like to tell me, perhaps an interesting dream?”, she asked after a bit of silence.

“No, nothing here, my dreams are usual. Well, there was one point in it where we made out, but nothing more than that.”

She laughed, “The making out makes it interesting already.”

Anakin shrugged, “I don’t suppose I could argue with that.”

“Me neither, obviously.”

“Do you have anything interesting you’d like to share?”

“Well, I dreamt of us being…king and queen,” she replied. “We’d rule together.”

“Wait, wait, wait, if you ascend to the throne, that makes me king, correct?”

“Yes,” she replied. “At least king _consort_.”

“So, if I equaled your rank there, wouldn’t I be a prince by marrying you here?”, he raised an eyebrow.”

“It’s an…awkward rule, but I can guarantee you you’ll be either king or king consort at the least by the time I ascend to the throne, which only happens assuming Mother doesn’t give birth to a male child,” Padmé explained. “If Mother does give birth to a male child, I will lose my spot as heir to the throne and would be second-in-line rather than first.”

“I see,” Anakin slowly nodded. “Oh, well, good things come to those who wait, but onto another topic: Should we, if at all, try for children?”

She nodded with a faltering smile, “Yes, I think we should at some point. I don’t know exactly when, but having children with you is something I’ve been thinking about for a good amount of time.”

“Lovely.”

“Do you have any ideas for names? I know we don’t even have a child on the way yet, but I am just curious.”

“No,” he shook his head slowly. “I don’t really have anything in mind just yet.”

“Okay.”

“Wait, wait, wait.”

“Hm?”

“If we do have a boy, we could name him Luke,” he suggested. “What do you think?”

“L-U-K-E?”

“Yes, like that,” he replied.

She smiled, “Yeah, that sounds like a lovely name. If it’s a girl?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know. What about you?”

“Mm, Leia?”

He smirked, “Yeah, I love the sound of that.”

____________________

As they went further and further, Anakin felt more and more suspicious about the place, “P-Padmé? Do…you know where we’re going? This…doesn’t seem like the palace.”

“I can guarantee you this is where we’re supposed to go,” she replied reluctantly. “This is where Father wanted us sent after all.”

“Don’t you think this might be…something bad? I-I don’t trust this,” he said worriedly. “I really don’t trust this neither do I like this.”

At some point, they passed through a large group of trees, and when they came out, the place was all dark. Anakin saw the front of a medieval-styled castle, and it was covered with red underneath the red skies. There were knights wearing shining silver armor, reminiscent of the medieval knights Anakin had heard, seen, and read so much about. The place was heavily guarded, but Anakin didn’t believe this was someplace under the United Kingdom’s rule. He really was not trusting this place, especially considering how reminiscent it was to how the vampires were described in that book that he read with Padmé before.

“Uh, c-coachman, where are we?”, Anakin asked nervously. “I don’t like this. I really, really don’t.”

“We’re going right where we need to be,” he replied. “You don’t need to worry about anything, Your Royal Highness.” Needless to say, the coachman’s reassurances did not help Anakin at all.

Padmé laid a hand on Anakin’s shaky lap, “Ani, don’t worry about it.”

“Dear God, Padmé,” he facepalmed. “What if there’s…vampires here or something?!”

She sighed, frowning before faking another reassurance, “There’s none, Anakin. I-I promise. Tell you what, you trust me, right?”

“Of course,” he nodded cautiously. “With all my heart.”

She looked remorseful as she replied to her husband, “Then, trust me on this, Ani. There aren’t any vampires here.”

“Okay.”

Padmé moved her mouth right up by Anakin’s ear before she whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Everything went black.


	9. Chapter 9

“AAAAAHHHHH!”, Anakin’s eyes were forced shut as he found himself in tremendous pain. He could feel _things_ searing into his body and cutting open wounds, but he had no choice but to face it. He could feel something cutting into the side of his neck. He could feel all the pain, yet he was too weak. He couldn’t see. He was blinded. He had no chance against the unknown. He couldn’t fight b-

_Shh…_

Quiet.

Quiet.

Quiet.

It was quiet for Anakin. All he could see was black. There was nothing in sight, near or far. He couldn’t see anything. He still found himself in the comfort of deep sleep. _Why? Why was he asleep? Was he knocked out? Was he unconscious?_ Anakin had to wake up soon. He needed to get a grasp of what was going on, but sleep would always keep pulling him back when he got close to an awakening. _Was he in a trance? Was someone making sure he’d stay asleep? If so, who was it?_ He had to get up. He had to get up. He had to get up. He had to get u-

Anakin sat up, panting. After a few deep breaths, he glanced around the room. The room was dark, but not too dark. He could still see around relatively well. The room was empty. There was nothing in it except the pillow he was laying on. He slowly got up to his feet, and he felt the cold _woosh_ as the door in front of him swung open. Just as he looked at the doorway, a few lights were turned on, revealing an empty hallway. Since there was no other clear way to get out, he walked through the doorway and into the dim hallway.

He felt occasional shivers as he walked. There was no doorway as he could observe the hallway getting redder ever so slightly.

_Anakin._

_I’m sorry._

Anakin whirled around, “P-Padmé?”

_If you’re listening._

_Please forgive me._

He could hear his wife’s distant sobs, “Padmé, I-I’m listening. Where are y-you? Padmé?”

Receiving no response, he sighed before he kept walking. He could hear the distant echoes of his loud footsteps. _What was going on?_

_He’s one of us now, dear._

“Palpatine?”

_And, there’s NOTHING you can do about it, but perhaps you could try and make it better for him._

_I…understand, Father._

“One of us?”

He kept walking. He kept walking, no clear exit. He kept walking. He kept moving. He kept hoping for an exit to come.

_There._

Anakin turned to look at the voice, but there was nothing there. He sighed before turning back to see a doorway suddenly appearing. It led to a wider hallway, and he entered it. There were countless doorways scattered throughout the wider hallway along with decorations such as tables and mirrors there. There was nothing important there that he may use, and he knew it already.

He could then hear a large pack of footsteps getting closer and closer, and all of a sudden, a horde of… _himself_ marched out of the doorways and turned to him in unison.

“What the fuck?”, actual Anakin muttered.

The other versions of him blinked, and their eyes became red as they opened their mouths to reveal a pair of canines, each in the position of where a vampire would have them. Then, they all ran to him, seeking to impale him with their long nails, and Anakin’s scream was muffled as he braced for extreme pain, but it all disappeared before they could touch him. Anakin cautiously looked up and realized that they had all disappeared. He sighed in relief, ignoring exactly what unrealistic situation he had found himself in.

“ANAKIN! HELP ME!”, he heard the distant cry of his wife, and straight after, he ran to it, but a hole showed up on the floor, and he fell.

And fell.

And fell.

And fell.

And he hit the ground, completely painless.

The dark room slowly lit up. The room was empty. The room went dark again.

The room then lit up suddenly, causing Anakin to cover his eyes due to the sudden change of lighting and scenery. It was then that Anakin slowly got up to his feet, and he realized he was in the room of his dear wife, Padmé. He looked at the bed to see if his wife was sleeping on it, but there was nobody there. The only awkward thing that he noticed was that the pillows were mostly scratched, and there were signs of feathers on the floor.

“What the…?”

Anakin shook his head, ignoring the sight, and he exited the room shortly after. He was led to the familiar hallway that he had gotten used to when making his way to Padmé after a day at work, but it was different. He didn’t know what made it different, but it felt…unwelcoming.

“ANAKIN! PLEASE!”, the distant cries came again, and Anakin’s eyes widened as he got running again, remembering the situation at hand.

“I’M COMING!”, he shouted back.

_He’s in it now, I think._

_I think so, too._

Anakin was under too much adrenaline to hear the whispers around him. He dashed up the stairs, feeling no sort of fatigue as the stairs kept going for what seemed like forever. There were doorways opening up, however, and he decided to stop by one of them. The doorway led to an empty hallway, completely empty, but that was until the floor in front of him fell apart.

“ANAKIN!”

Most of the flooring descended into deep darkness, but Anakin noticed the pillars rising up to floor level. Not wanting to let his wife fall to whatever dangers surrounding her, he let out a deep breath before leaping to the first pillar. Just after he jumped, he could hear an old man’s distant cackles. He couldn’t leave time on the table, so he quickly jumped to the other one, getting extremely shaky on his landing. Then, the next pillar that appeared seemed miles away, and Anakin quickly found himself at a dead end.

“What to do? What to do?!”, he was practically shouting at himself before groaning. “Come on, Anakin, GIVE YOURSELF IDEAS!”

He then slowly turned to look to the wall at the side. It was completely smooth and shiny, but he came up with the bad idea that was wall-running or at least jumping or climbing with the wall. He knew it was practically impossible, but he realistically had no other way. He let out a deep breath before he leaped to the wall. He then landed on the wall, his fingers hitting hard, and when he dug his fingers deeper, trying to not fall down, his fingers dug into the ceramic walls.

“What?!”

He shook it off before he tried to cling on with his other hand, and it somehow worked. As if rock climbing, he used his hands to cling onto the walls, and he advanced until he was within distance of the next pillar. He turned.

Jump.

He landed on the pillar, giving him a sigh of relief. He had two more to go before he could get to the other side.

Jump.

He jumped across, but the pillar was slippery, causing him to slip off, but he barely held on to the top of the pillar and climbed up on top of it again. However, it was still slippery, and jumping off it rather than sliding off may be difficult. He let out a deep breath before jumping.

Slip.

His leap was horrible, sliding off more than jumping, and he couldn’t make it far. Just as he thought he wasn’t going to make it, he clung onto the pillar. Using his other hand, he climbed up, breaking through the structure easily. Eventually, he found his way up on top of the pillar. The next one wasn’t really a jump, and he simply made a big step to get to the other side. He gave a triumphant smile, and he let out a deep breath before entering the next room. The next room quickly darkened before brightening up again.

Standing in front of him was Obi-Wan and Padmé.

Obi-Wan was holding his Holy Sword up close to Padmé, and Anakin was immediately angered, “Obi-Wan…”

“Ani, help me, please,” he could hear Padmé choke out, her eyes read and teeth fanged, seeing her to be a vampire.

“Anakin, there you are,” Obi-Wan said. “I want you to finish her for me.”

“WHAT?!”

“DON’T YOU SEE WHAT SHE IS?! YOU HAVE TO TAKE HER DOWN!”

Anakin gritted his teeth, “No…”

“She is a VAMPIRE! YOU MUST STRIKE HER DOWN, ANAKIN!”

“Never,” he shook his head slowly, his vampiric characteristics starting to show.

Obi-Wan’s eyes widened, “I can’t believe it.”

“What?”

“You’re one of them…”

“AND, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES THAT MAKE?!”, he snapped. “HUH?! YOU ARE STOOD THERE, ABOUT TO KILL MY WIFE!”

“SHE IS A VAMPIRE!”, he shouted again before speaking in a low tone. “And, so are you…”

“Let go of her,” Anakin gritted his teeth again. “NOW! Or, suffer the consequences…”

“YOU HAVE TURNED YOUR BACK ON THE ONE BEING YOU HAVE DEVOTED YOURSELF TO: GOD!”

“THE ONE BEING I AM DEVOTED TO IS STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!”

Obi-Wan gave a horrified look before turning back to one full of seriousness, “Then, love truly has blinded you…”

Anakin furrowed his eyebrows before reaching his arm out, ignorant of how his abilities as a vampire would make him a weapon on his own, and seconds later, a long sword flew into his hand. Obi-Wan tossed Padmé aside before holding up a fighting stance.

“Do you really want to do this, Anakin?”, he said in a warning voice.

“You dare touch my wife? Oh, yes, I really do,” Anakin replied. “Now, I see…through the lies of the Jedi.”

Obi-Wan tensed up, “Very well.” He tensed up even more.

Anakin narrowed his eyes, calculating the perfect way to strike down the older man, and as he tightened his grip on the sword, it stopped shaking. He then moved his feet ever so slightly before running at him, “AGHHHH!”

He swung at him.

He then sat up quickly.

He panted.

He had a blanket with him. He had just woken up.


	10. Chapter 10

Anakin looked around, examining the room. The room was dark, but unlike the previous dark places he’d found himself in, it was rather comforting though that was likely as it was a bedroom. He let out a sigh of relief knowing the mess from earlier was nothing but a dream. Still, he couldn’t shake off the extremely odd feeling he had. He examined himself, wondering if anything had changed. He was slightly paler than usual, but he ignored it, expecting something far worse than slightly paler skin. He then pursed his lips, wondering what else he could do to see how he was feeling at the moment. He then turned to see a bathroom by the side.

He shrugged before getting up and sauntering to the bathroom, “Might as well.” There were…torches lit up, lightening up the bathroom. He turned to the mirror, examining his face, and his eyes widened at the sight of them being red.

“What on earth?”

Just as he muttered that, he noticed the canines. He now quickly understood what had happened. He placed a hand on his forehead, disbelief crowding him. _What happened?_

He shivered as someone placed their hand on his shoulder, “I know.”

Anakin jumped and turned around, and it was Padmé, “NO REFLECTION?!”

“We have to make an effort if we want to be visible through the mirror for others,” she pointed out, her voice soft.

“A-are you…one of them?”, he asked.

She slowly nodded, “Yes.”

He was about to express his disbelief until she showed her own canines.

He then furrowed his eyebrows, “So, all of this…is one big lie, huh?”

“Anakin…”

Anakin marched out of the bathroom and back onto the bed, shutting the door violently. Padmé opened it again, following him into the bedroom, and she saw him sat on the bed.

“Tell me everything. Now,” he said with finality.

She nodded sadly before speaking, her voice full of shame, “Father had stated that the man I’d marry would be a vampire. Father is…a vampire himself. We were doomed from the start, Anakin.”

“And, you never bothered to tell me about this, huh?”, he said accusatorily. “Maybe, if I didn’t like the whole idea of being a vampire, I could have backed out. Maybe, if you had perhaps been a bit more observant, you would have realized I am NOT FOND OF VAMPIRES!”

“IF I DIDN’T TRULY LOVE YOU, I WOULDN’T HAVE DONE SOMETHING SO SELFISH!”

“You know, I’ve always said I wanted to raise children with you,” he replied weakly.

“We can still procreate,” she pointed out in an equally weak voice. “I mean, we can still have the children we’ve always dreamed of.”

“We? Children?”, he scoffed. “If you ask me, the only we’ll be making together will indulge in blood. Oh, imagine what everyone would say when they find out about the vampiric royals.”

“All us vampires can still eat regular human food and even taste it, it just has no value.”

“Are they even going to grow up? Are _we_ even going to die?”

“Yes and no,” she answered. “Our children will grow up until young adulthood as with all others who are already a vampire before adulthood.”

“We can’t die?”, he scoffed. “So, are you telling me I’m damned for all eternity?”

“Well,” she shrugged. “You can’t die, but you can be killed.”

“Well, I suppose you know what I have in mind.”

“Please don’t…commit suicide,” she replied bluntly. “You know I love you, and I can’t bear the thought of knowing I’ll never be with you ever again.”

“Love me? Now that I think about it, I’m not quite sure you do. You saw this coming for a long time, after all.”

“I wanted to let go of you at some point, but I couldn’t. It’ll be just as much a heartbreak for me as it would be for you, and Father would torture me knowing I had just let the vampire prince slip away.”

“Vampire prince?”, he raised an eyebrow.

“As my spouse and with me being a vampire princess, that makes you a vampire prince and becoming someone being highly regarded by the other vampires.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, just tell me when’s the coronation,” he said sarcastically. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to miss that.”

“In all seriousness, there is one.”

He raised an eyebrow as he looked, “Uh, what?”

“Not really a coronation, but there is a ceremony for when a prince or princess is made,” she said. “In fact, there’s already been a planned ceremony for you for a long time now. Father has had it set up for a while.”

“Wait, speaking of your father, he is a vampire himself, didn’t you say?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “He is.”

“Oh,” he scoffed. “The United Kingdom is fucked.”

“Look, I know you’re really not happy with me right now, but I can tell you that I have something in mind.”

“And, what exactly is that?”

“I can take down my father, but I need your help.”

“And let another vampire rule for eternity? I don’t think so,” he shook his head repeatedly. “This country is damned ‘til the day a human sits on that throne.”

“Look, I am different from my father, very different.”

“Then, prove it, what are you that he isn’t? What do you have that he doesn’t?”

“I know what Father wants,” she sighed. “He wants to slowly engulf the population and either have them be vampires or be dead. He wants nothing but power, and I’ve known that for quite some time. Me and Sola, we don’t want that. We want to find a way to unite the two: humans and vampires, coexisting.”

“Oh, please, the sole fact that vampires exist already triggers the Jedi. We are already against the religion solely for existing.”

“Well, what if we took down the religion? The Jedi Order of the Cross is what holds the religion together,” Padmé explained. “If we defeat them, we won’t be hounded by every Jedi in existence.”

“That is essentially treason.”

“Look, it’s the only way we can thrive. We have to defeat the Jedi Order of the Cross and Father.”

“If I am a Prince of the Vampires, doesn’t that make your father the Darth? Isn’t he the all-powerful? What makes you think we can defeat him?”

“Individually?”, she shook her head. “We can’t stop Father on our own, but with you, me, and Sola, we can, and when the smoke clears, we’ll rule together. We will rule the vampires and the United Kingdom, and we can bring peace to the vampires and the humans. All of that, we can do. We can be King and Queen of the United Kingdom. We can be the Darths of the Vampires.”

He sighed before shaking his head, “I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it. This is just a big damned mess I woke up to.”

“Well, how about you rest for a bit? Your ceremony will take place soon.”

____________________

Anakin entered the large room. He had been given a military full dress-styled uniform that he would wear to his ceremony, covered in mostly black and gold. When he entered the room, there was a large crowd there as he saw Palpatine sat on a large throne with Padmé to his left and Lara to his right, Sola sat to Lara’s left, and there was an empty seat there which he assumed was for him. They were all wearing either crowns or tiaras, but Anakin knew he’d have a coronet.

Padmé and Sola gave him sympathetic looks as a man spoke up, “On this day, the 17th of August 1880, we shall all witness the crowning of a Prince of the Vampires, Anakin Skywalker, who shall henceforth be known as Lord Vader, Prince of the Vampires.” Knowing that was his cue, he made his way down the aisle, hiding the sadness and disappointment in his face.

He knelt on the small stool provided and was in front of Palpatine. He had a coronet in his hands. A thinner-than-usual sash was placed around him with a long sword hanging from it, a short rod of some sort was given to him and placed on his right hand, and as they wrapped the coronation robes were wrapped around him, the coronet was placed on top of his head. “You will serve well, son,” Palpatine whispered into his ear.

Anakin sighed before turning around to face the audience. They all seemed very pleased with him. He wished he could share their feelings.

 _Lord Vader,_ he thought to himself his new vampiric name, knowing all the vampires would be calling him that now. Shortly after his thoughts, he turned to look at Padmé who was giving him more looks of sympathy, and he sighed again before walking to his small throne next to his wife. There were murmurs amongst the crowd before they eventually began giving their applause. They all seemed pleased with him. They all seemed pleased with having a new vampire prince of sorts.

Anakin then muttered under his breath, “So, this is what I am now, huh?”


	11. Chapter 11

Padmé offered for Anakin to come to her room after his ceremony, and while the two weren’t out of the woods just yet regarding the tension between them and their relationship due to the whole vampire situation, Anakin knew better than to try to figure this whole problem out on his own. Of course, Padmé was going to help him with the problem considering she had brought him into it in the first place and since it was the least she could do as his wife. Anakin didn’t seem to be all that angry, really, but it still didn’t help as instead of feeling angry, he was feeling sad and disappointed.

“So, what exactly do I have to know?”, he asked with a murmur. “Surely, a lot of things would change for me now.”

“Yes,” she nodded before heading to her minibar and taking a wine bottle. She grabbed a wine glass and poured what was most obviously blood. She then handed it over to Anakin. “Here, drink up.”

He examined the ‘wine’ in the glass for a moment before looking back at her, “I’d…rather not.”

She sighed, “Anakin, blood is the only thing you’ll be needing to live as a vampire, nothing else, so you might as well just drink it. Besides, it doesn’t taste as bad as you think, it’ll taste better for vampires than it does for humans. Also, that is B1 on our blood list, so it tastes rather bland. It is best for new vampires like you, however.”

Anakin groaned, “Fine.” He reluctantly drank it, and his eyes widened with its taste.

“Is it…bad?”, Padmé asked nervously.

He shook his head, “No, it’s…actually not that bad.”

She smiled, “I’ll let you drink the stronger ones soon. I can guarantee you they are much better than B1, so I suppose you could be excited.”

“I’m just curious: Would I be allowed to visit some sort of religious place or will I simply get myself killed in there?”, he asked.

“You can,” she replied, nodding. “The only problem is you’ll be massacred if someone finds about you.”

“Well, could you teach me how to hide my…characteristics?”

“Sure, just give me a bit.”

____________________

Anakin was on his way now to church. Considering Obi-Wan always talked to Anakin about God being forgiving, he hoped that asking for forgiveness might save him from the eternal sin he was damned to. _God is forgiving_ , he could hear Obi-Wan recite in his very mind right now, and it was echoing in his head, perhaps it was his conscience.

He knelt down and made his prayers, “Dear God, please forgive me, for I have become the most sinful thing known to man: a vampire. I…never asked for this, but considering You would see it as sin, I…wish for your forgiveness for my wrongdoings, and I hope that you can still be by my side throughout my…ordeal. Amen.”

When he got up and turned around, he jumped at the sight of Obi-Wan looking at him with adoration, “Goodness’ sake, Obi-Wan.”

Obi-Wan chuckled, “I see you’re making your prayers. I haven’t seen you here in a while, thought the royal life washed over you, but…I guess not.”

Anakin shrugged, “I have a demanding wife.”

“I can relate to that,” he laughed. “Well, not really a demanding _wife_ , but rather, a demanding lover. So, why are you here?”

“Forgiveness, I suppose,” he replied. “I have done one or two stupid things after the marriage. I…don’t usually come here to pray for forgiveness, but I’d rather not let the regret eat me whole. It is best to admit.”

Obi-Wan smiled adoringly before patting his shoulder, “You are strong and wise, Anakin, and I am very proud of you.” If anything, that compliment only made him feel more guilty knowing he was hiding something far, far worse, but Anakin faked a smile in response. Obi-Wan patted him one more time.

Obi-Wan prayed on his own for a bit before Anakin asked, “So, did you come to do anything special or are you just here to pray?”

“Nothing special, really,” he answered before asking. “Tell you what, are you busy today? We could have a little chat, of course.”

He wanted to but remembered he had to be hiding his true self from the Jedi, so he shook his head, “No, I am busy for today.”

Obi-Wan frowned, “Oh, that’s a shame. Well, I’ll see you soon?”

Anakin gave a small nod, “Sure, I’ll see you then.”

“Have a good day.”

____________________

Anakin was called to Palpatine’s chambers in the Mustafar Castle. He wondered exactly what it was for and had slight worry, but he knew better than to disobey what Palpatine says. He entered the room and saw Palpatine stood in the center, awaiting his presence as his two daughters, Padmé and Sola, and wife, Lara, were sat nearby, watching on.

“You wanted to see me?”

“Yes,” Palpatine nodded before pointing to a long sword by a table. “Get that, but don’t walk to it.”

Anakin slowly nodded, “Okay, then.” He didn’t fully understand what Palpatine had said, but he decided to extend his arm out to the side, and it flew to his hand quickly.

“Good, good.”

“Now what?”

“From now on, you are to refer to me as ‘Master,’ I consider it most fitting considering I see no sense in you calling me ‘Father,’ let alone ‘darling,’ but when we are in public, calling me by how you should is fine, son,” Palpatine explained. “Is that understood?”

Anakin resisted the urge to roll his eyes, “Yes, Master.”

“Good, now let’s get started.”

Without warning, Palpatine swung at Anakin, and Anakin’s eyes widened before blocking it quickly. Suddenly, a voice began speaking in Anakin’s head.

 _Left_ , Anakin blocked a strike coming from his left.

 _Top,_ Anakin blocked overhead.

 _Right,_ Anakin covered off his right.

 _Step back_ , Anakin stepped back, avoiding a wide swing.

 _Jump_ , Anakin jumped up, avoiding another wide swing targeting his legs.

 _Left,_ he blocked another strike headed for his left.

_Right._

_Step back._

Not wanting to keep defending, he swung hard, and it surprisingly caused Palpatine’s sword to fly off his hand. Padmé, Sola, and Lara were equally shocked as he was, and Anakin pointed the tip of the blade to Palpatine, “I win.”

Palpatine chuckled before slowly clapping, “Perhaps I was taking it easy on you, but well done, son. For a first try, you have done very well indeed.”

“Thank you, Master,” he replied dryly.

____________________

“How did you do that?”, Padmé asked as they entered her room back in a real _human_ palace. Anakin and Padmé were set to move to a new palace as a duke and duchess who would be expected to be able to operate on their own.

“Do what, exactly?”, Anakin raised an eyebrow. “What exactly are you talking about?”

“You were quickly able to fend off Father’s attacks, and you quickly took him down. Yes, he was taking it easy on you, yet his definition of easy is far different thank you think,” she said. “You’re picking up on this easily, I will admit, but I still would like to know how you did such a thing.”

Anakin shrugged, “I don’t really know. It’s like there was just this…voice speaking in my mind, telling me what to do. Have you ever had something like that?”

“As a matter of fact, yes,” she nodded in response. “I think most vampires have that, but…none of us have been hearing that voice so early on in our vampire life. I’ve only gotten mine about a year and a half after Father turned me. It’s never come so early, and I can guarantee you it isn’t because you’re a vampire prince as I am a vampire princess and have not gotten it as early as you did.”

“Is this voice…something good or bad?”

“Good, it really helps you in battles,” Padmé replied. “And, well, I suppose it helps for certain other things as well.”

“I’ll take your word for that.”

Padmé began reading through a few letters that had just come in, and Anakin began doing the same as she spoke up, “Reading through letters could be a good pastime, and as a duke and duchess, we’ll be going through these a lot more.”

It was a few minutes later when Anakin admitted, “I will admit. Reading through letters isn’t as bad as I thought. It looked so boring when I first heard the idea of it, but now that I think about it, it’s not bad at all.”

She chuckled, “I’m glad to hear that.”

“Anyway, do you remember that time you offered me to help you take down Palpatine?”

She frowned, nervous as to what he would say about, “Yes.”

He gave a small smile, “I will help you with him.”

She cautiously began to smile herself, “R-really?”

“Well, it’s the only way we won’t be damned for eternity, and to be fair, you do have much better intentions compared to your father. If I had to choose, I’d definitely choose you. Will Sola help us out with this though?”

“Yes, she will. She’s been into the idea for quite a while now.”

“I will admit: I am still nowhere used to living like a vampire, but I assume you’ll help me out with it?”

“Of course, I will, it’s the least I can do.”

“Alright, well, I accept your offer. I’ll help you out in taking down your father, and I will be more than willing to become your consort when you are to take the throne. I will be more than willing to rule alongside you or to merely be your consort who would accompany you wherever you go.”

“I’ll definitely make sure you rule alongside me. I would not want you living under my shadow for as long as our rule lasts.”

“Who said I would be living under your shadow?”

“The people,” she quipped. “In all seriousness though, I would love for you to rule alongside me, and if Parliament is to let you have that, I would be more than happy for that to happen. After all, I don’t want you dedicating you would protect me in public, that is a secret agreement of ours.”

“I assume part of that secret agreement is for you to watch over me as well?”

“We’re wife and husband, darling, it’s the least we could do.”


	12. Chapter 12

Anakin and Padmé were reading through a pile of letters in an attempt to pass time. The day was mostly quiet for them, and they were partly hoping it would stay that way, but they both knew Sola would arrive later to talk about their plans to take down Palpatine.

“I’m done with this one,” Padmé murmured before placing the letter on a pile on the other side of their temporarily shared worktable, barely heard by Anakin.

He replied promptly, “Which one?”

“The one from the charity,” she replied. “I’m done with that one.”

“Oh, I see. Funny enough, this one I’m reading through right now is from a charity as well.”

“Heh.”

“I wonder when Sola’s coming,” Anakin mused.

“Me, too.”

“Quiet day though, I will admit.”

“It’s…nice.”

____________________

While Anakin was off to a trip to the bathroom, one of their staff entered the room, “Your Royal Highness?”

Padmé turned to look at her, “Yes?”

“Her Royal Highness Princess Sola of Cornwall would like to see you.”

“Let her in then.”

“Padmé!”, Sola entered the room, a small smile, and Padmé got up to hug her. “Well, if this day is quiet, I suppose I’ll brighten it up a bit.”

Padmé chuckled, “I hope so.” Anakin then left the bathroom to greet Sola.

“Ah, Sola, hello.”

“Anakin, a good day to you,” she replied with a smile.

“Now, ladies, I’m sure we’re all here for one thing,” Anakin sat down on the bed, and the two ladies he was referring to sat down on the chairs in front of him and turned to face him. “And that thing is to take down your father, Palpatine.”

“Yes.”

“Now, do any of you have any…plans?”, he asked, hoping for suggestions. “I wouldn’t exactly understand this as much as you two do.”

“Well, I suggest we deal with the Jedi Order of the Cross first,” Sola suggested. “They would be the biggest thorn in our side should we eventually reveal our true identities upon defeating Father.”

Anakin sighed knowing that would make him the worst of traitors, but since he didn’t really see a better choice, he nodded, “That sounds like a good idea. Padmé, do you have anything to say otherwise?”

His wife shook her head, “No, that…sounds like a good idea to me as well.”

“Wait one moment, how would we defeat _all_ of them without _anyone_ noticing?”

“That we will work on,” Sola said. “We’re only thinking of a general overview of the plan for the moment, not the specifics.”

Anakin sighed, “Whatever you say.”

“So, how do you suggest we deal with Father ourselves?”, Sola now asked the couple by her. “I, myself, am looking for suggestions.”

“How did Father kill Grandmother again?”, Padmé countered.

Sola shrugged, “Well, it was a simple plan: He caught Grandmother in a place where barely anyone could see. We could try that, but Father definitely stands a chance as opposed to Grandmother who was, well, completely defenseless.”

Padmé groaned, “You’re right, Father will see us coming easily.”

“If we really are to defeat your father, it would have to be in a head-on fight,” Anakin said. “All three of us, together, and I just know we stand a chance.”

Padmé slowly nodded, “Ani’s right, all three of us, and we stand a chance. What do you say, Sola? When we take on Father, all three of us?”

“All three of us,” Sola replied, a small smile on her face.

____________________

Sola eventually left, and Anakin and Padmé once again had time to themselves. When Padmé got back after going out to do a few things Anakin didn’t know of, he decided to talk about the vampire situation he found himself in.

“Padmé, can I…talk to you for a bit?”

He could hear the nervousness in her voice as she replied, “S-sure, of course, no problem.” She then sat down next to him on the bed. “So, what is it you want to talk about?”

“It’s about…you turning me and how I was initially mad at you about it. I probably still am right now, but this is what I want to talk about.”

Padmé slowly nodded, “Okay.”

“I know I was quite annoyed about it the first time around, but now I realize that…it’s not your fault I was doomed to this mess. I guess you were aware and likely wanted to let go of at some point, but I did cling on to you quite hard, so I guess you couldn’t.”

“What…are you trying to say here?”, she asked, cautiously optimistic.

“I’m saying that I fully forgive you for what you did, our relationship and all. I’m saying that, once again, I want to rule alongside you. I’m saying that I want whatever’s separating us from being clear of issues in the relationship to be gone. I’m saying I want us to be clean again. I’m saying I will go through this hell with you. I’m saying that I want to share whatever sort of happiness I’ll get in the future with you. I’m saying I still want us.”

She smiled before leaning over to kiss him, “I’m glad, and once again, I’m really sorry for bringing you into all this.”

“And once again, I forgive you,” he quipped. “It’s okay, Padmé. If anything, this is your father’s fault, not yours, and how could I ever turn down the offer of ruling alongside you?”

She chuckled, “Well, I guess you can’t really turn that down.”

“I don’t know what’s more tempting though,” he hummed. “You or the kingship.”

“Me, definitely,” she smirked.

He shrugged, “Mm, I guess I can’t disagree with that.”

____________________

Anakin was closing in on the Jedi Temple. He had just finished up army work for the day. Splitting his time between the army and the dukedom he had was difficult, but with Padmé and his staff’s help, he seemed to be coping just fine. Anakin knew of an abandoned base that they had, so he suggested that they lure all the Jedi there. Anakin and Padmé were to take on the many Jedi that would check on the abandoned base. Sola would take down the Jedi who decided to stay in their temple, effectively clearing out their population.

There were a few Temple Guards outside, and they opened the door for him. When Anakin entered, he noticed that the Jedi seemed to be under normal operations. Some of them were roaming the hallways whereas others seemed to be spread throughout the temple, busy doing their own things. If Anakin wasn’t going to find Obi-Wan first, he’d have to find Ahsoka, his other friend in the Jedi Order of the Cross.

“Skyguy? What are you doing here?”, Anakin turned around to see Ahsoka looking at him.

“Oh, hey, Snips,” he replied. “Uh, I’m looking for Obi-Wan. Have you…seen him anywhere?”

“He’s in the meditation room,” she answered.

“Where exactly is that?”

“Uh, just…come with me,” she said, and Anakin nodded and followed her. She led him through a group of hallways, and when she got to the pair of doors leading to the meditation room, she pushed them open and called for Obi-Wan.

“OBI-WAN, SKYGUY HERE WANTS TO SEE YOU!”

Obi-Wan got up, an annoyed look on his face, “You didn’t need to shout so loud, Ahsoka.” He then sighed before attending to Anakin as Ahsoka left the two alone. “Well, Anakin, do you, uh, need anything?”

“Uh, I…want to talk to you about something,” he said unspecifically.

Obi-Wan nodded and left the room with him, shutting the doors to the meditation room on the way, “Okay, what is it?”

“I…may know of where vampires might be.”

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, now curious, “Where?”

“Do you remember the mountains near this place? There’s an abandoned base by it, and that’s where I think the vampires group up at night, so nobody can see them. I…don’t necessarily have any proof, but I have been hearing rumours about it and have once seen it, I think. Like I said, I don’t have any proof, but it may be best to send a good amount of Jedi to it.”

Obi-Wan stroked his beard, “Hmm, I see, let’s…bring this to Master Windu.”

____________________

“Anakin Skywalker, correct?”, Mace Windu asked Anakin, wishing to clarify.

“Yes,” Anakin replied. “That’s me.”

“Okay, alright, what do you have for us?”

Anakin then pulled out a map as Obi-Wan headed to the table that the two were talking at. Anakin then pointed to a base on the map near the mountains, “I was out yesterday because of free time, and…I could’ve sworn I saw a group of vampires there.”

Mace hummed, “Do you know exactly how many? Was there a lot of them?”

“I couldn’t count, but yes, there was a lot of them,” he said. “If you’re going to go there, I suggest bringing a lot as when they see you, they will…massacre you. I was nearly caught by one of them, in fact. Luckily, I was near a bush that I could hide in. It was a very close call indeed.”

“And, why should we trust your information?”, Mace gave him a look of suspicion.

“Because he’s Anakin,” Obi-Wan answered instead. “And, I trust him.” _Dear God, Anakin was feeling guilty now._

Mace stopped to think for a moment before sighing and nodding, “Alright, then, what do you suggest we do?”

“Just…bring a lot of Jedi there to check on it, large amounts of vampires can easily overwhelm few Jedi, so having equal firepower would really help,” Anakin suggested. “That’s…my general idea.”

“That’s it?”

“Well, it’s a simple plan, but it should work,” Anakin shrugged. “I don’t see this having to be far more complicated if this’ll only end up a swordfight.”

Mace gave a small nod before turning to Obi-Wan, “Do you have any suggestions?”

“No, I believe Anakin’s idea is just fine,” Obi-Wan replied. “There needn’t be anything new or anything more complicated, overwhelming them would be just fine.”

“Okay,” Mace slowly nodded. “Well, I suppose we have that. We’ll check on it tomorrow evening, so you shouldn’t worry about this anymore.”

“I understand, and thank for you for hearing me out on this.”

“It’s no problem, don’t worry about it.”


	13. Chapter 13

Anakin and Padmé were on their way now to the aforementioned abandoned base, and they both knew Sola was on her way to the Jedi Temple. It was in the afternoon, and they were expecting the Jedi to come in the evening. Despite this, the couple were under no rush to get there and neither was Sola. Earlier that day, Anakin practiced swordfighting with Padmé more, and despite her constantly beating him due to genuinely having more experience, he did well to put up a good fight every single time. Padmé had told him that his fighting prowess would be more than enough to defeat numerous Jedi, and he trusted her statements.

“We’re almost there,” Anakin pointed to the abandoned base not far away. “There, do you see it?”

“Yes, it’s…quite obvious now,” she replied rather dryly. “I hope Sola does her part.”

“If I can trust you, I am quite sure I can trust your dear sister as well,” Anakin remarked. “I think Sola should do just fine without us.”

Padmé sighed, “I hope so.”

“Are you scared for her?”

“Of course, I am,” Padmé answered. “She’s my sister, I grew up with her, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Nothing, I…was just curious, really, no problems here, promise.”

“Mm, okay.”

____________________

“Ahsoka, do you see anyone?”, Obi-Wan asked. “Because I don’t and neither does Master Windu over here, we could use some, I don’t know, visibility.”

Ahsoka shook her head, “Nothing here, Master.”

Obi-Wan sighed, “Alright, then.”

It was not long later when the large group was closing in on the base Anakin had pinpointed for them, and Mace pointed to, “There, I see it. It’s over there, not too far up ahead.” There was roughly thirty of them heading to the abandoned base, making up the majority of the Jedi Temple and the Jedi Order of the Cross in general, but not including younglings, of course.

Obi-Wan squinted, trying to see it before he eventually saw it himself, “Ah, yes, I see it now.”

“Me, too,” Ahsoka added. “I see it over there.”

“We might as well pick up the pace,” Obi-Wan shrugged

“No,” Mace shook his head in disagreement. “The last thing we want is, as what your Skywalker said, to get massacred.”

He sighed, “Good point.”

After a good few minutes of the pack slowly creeping to the abandoned base, they eventually found themselves right next to it. They made their way through the suspiciously opened gate, and then, they decided to stop for a bit to scope out the area, checking to see if there was anyone trying to hide in plain sight.

“Do you see anything?”, Mace asked.

“Well, there’s that large building over there,” Obi-Wan pointed to a large and likely empty building up ahead. “We might as well check that out.” Obi-Wan decided to ignore the two swords on the ground by a nearby post.

Mace nodded, “Get your swords ready then.” Doing as told, everyone in the pack pulled out their swords, ready for a battle. “Wait, wait, wait, stop for a moment.” Mace squinted as he saw two figures running towards them, seemingly unarmed and were likely running away from something (or someone, rather). When they came into sight, they realized that it was Anakin and Padmé running to them, both seeming quite scared.

“Your Highness?”

Padmé dropped to her knees in dramatic fashion before pleading, “Please, you have to help us!”

“What’s wrong?”, Mace asked, immediately alarmed. “You need to tell us, ma’am.”

“The vampires – they’re in there!”, she pointed to the empty building Obi-Wan was referring to early. “They’re not going out though.”

“How exactly did you end up here?”

“They…CAPTURED US!”, Padmé answered with a shout. “Me and Anakin were able to distract them and barely slipped away.”

Mace nodded, “Alright, you and Skywalker either stay here or leave.”

“Y-yes,” Padmé nodded in agreement. “Thank you.”

Mace nodded one more time before leading his group to the empty building. When all of them turned their attention away from the pair, Anakin and Padmé reached out for the swords left off at the side, and it flew into their hands.

Anakin sighed knowing what he was about to do, “I’m going to regret this.”

“Me, too,” Padmé agreed. “But, we have to do what we have to do.”

“I know, I know.”

____________________

Mace and company entered the empty building, and they were all on guard as they waited for the vampires to come out, “Wherever you vampires are, come out.”

_Woosh._

They all turned around, seeing what made the noise, but there was nothing there.

_Woosh. Ting._

The sound of metal hitting the floor rung their ears, but the Jedi were unfazed in their efforts to find their hiding enemies. In fact, one of the women in the group was brave enough to move closer to one of the large stacks of equipment in the buildings.

“AAH!”

_Swing._

“BARRISS!”, Ahsoka shouted and wanted to run to her aid.

Obi-Wan grabbed onto Ahsoka’s wrist and held her back, “No, you’ll get killed out there!”

Ahsoka slowly shook her head in disbelief and was close to crying, but she decided to try and get it off, at least for the moment. Still, she choked out one quick word as she kept on shaking her head, “No.”

_Woosh._

_Woosh._

“Be careful, everyone, watch your backs,” Mace slowly backed up. “This does not seem nice at all.”

“SHOW YOURSELVES, VAMPIRES!”, Obi-Wan shouted.

_Ting._

_Woosh._

_Woosh._

“Cowards,” Obi-Wan muttered, and he was surprised to hear someone snicker behind him.

_Swing. Swing._

“AHH!”

“URGH!”

Two bodies dropped simultaneously, both with obvious wounds behind them, and all of the group turned around, shocked that these vampires were toying with them.

“What the…?”

“H-how?”

_T-t-t-t-tinnnnnng._

_T-t-t-t-tinnnnnng._

“Your…Highnesses?”, Mace made out what appeared to be Anakin and Padmé stood in front of them. Their unusually bright red eyes shined through the darkness, and Mace instinctively moved back.

“Vampires…”, Mace whispered, but everyone could hear it as all the Jedi turned to the vampire prince and princess.

Everyone else seemed determined to take down Padmé and Anakin, both in their fighting stance, but Obi-Wan seemed horrified and full of disbelief, and perhaps Ahsoka as well. Anakin felt a wave of sympathy and guilt go over himself, but as said many times, he had to do what he had to do. The two pair of swords that fell on the ground earlier flew back to the hands of the vampire couple once again.

After momentary silence, Anakin and Padmé charged forward simultaneously. Padmé leaped upwards and over and across the Jedi whereas Anakin kept charging. His first target was Mace who was distracted by Padmé, and Anakin was able to scratch him, causing the esteemed Jedi to let out a grunt. Majority of the Jedi were confused, thinking of which one of the two to target.

Ahsoka ran at Anakin.

_Woosh._

She flew off to the side, hitting the stacks of equipment hard before Anakin got back to fighting Windu.

_Left._

_Right._

_Top._

_Right._

_Step back._

At one point, Anakin leaped over Mace, flipping over him before landing behind him, and with one swift swing, he split the Jedi in half. Padmé, on the other hand, was fighting off two female Jedi. Padmé’s sword and a Jedi’s clashed, and the Jedi’s sword fell off her hand. It was a quick kill for Padmé.

Anakin was now fighting off Ahsoka, but despite his extreme focus to defeat her, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of sympathy and guilt. It also seemed like Ahsoka wanted to say a word or two to him as they fought but couldn’t as she had to remain focused. Ahsoka grunted as Anakin began to notice her difficulty in stopping him, but Anakin fought calmly, trying his best not to pile up his pressure and to keep his composure. For each swing, he could feel Ahsoka’s game slowly melting.

_Woosh._

_Woosh._

Anakin could hear Padmé pushing away other Jedi, making sure she wasn’t overwhelmed. There were a group of Jedi standing by a pile of equipment, recuperating, so Anakin, using the Force, made the pile come tumbling down, and he could hear their screams as they were all hit on top. For each Jedi dead, more guilt passed over him, but Anakin kept fighting Ahsoka.

_Swing._

_Top._

_Step back._

_Right._

Anakin hit Ahsoka’s sword hard with his, and this stunned her. After a moment of trying to muster up his strength to do it, he stabbed Ahsoka before pulling the sword back out forcefully and letting the younger being fall to the ground, a large stab wound on her stomach. Anakin practically gaped at what he had done for a few moments. He had just killed one of his closest friends. He was snapped back to reality when another Jedi came attacking him.

Padmé was holding her own well. She was fighting three Jedi as of the moment but was not seeming fazed at all.

_Swing._

_Swing._

_Step back._

_Jump._

Padmé was able to quickly slash one of them on the stomach, cutting open a large wound as they fell to the ground dead. She then leaped over the other one before stabbing them on the back, and they fell to the ground as she pulled her sword out with force. The last one tried putting up a decent fight but seemed extremely desperate, swinging harshly and lousily. Padmé simply stepped backwards before blocking one hit and beheading the Jedi’s head off, blood quickly flowing and causing a large puddle to form itself on the floor, and she could hear the dripping of blood elsewhere.

Padmé and Anakin then began walking to the center of the room, making their way through the large blood puddles that spread on the floor, and Anakin was surprised to not feel so grossed out by that much blood, but at the same time, he did live by drinking blood, so that was really no surprise.

“Is that the last of them?”, Padmé asked Anakin as the two met up in the center of the large room.

“I think so,” Anakin replied before sighing, but he looked up again upon the realization of something. “Wait, wait, wait…”

“What is it?”

“Obi-Wan.”


	14. Chapter 14

Sola was finding herself to be struggling to clear out the Jedi Temple. There were few Jedi there apart from the younglings who were nothing but free kills, but they were scattered all throughout the temple, and thus, she struggled to find all of them and was nervous that they would catch her off guard. Padmé knew her sister could take on numerous Jedi at once, but having to look for them in the midst of a large temple was very much another story. Sola stayed strong and vigilant, but only time will tell if he strength and skills would get her out of this place with a victory.

“There you are!”, an older Jedi came running up behind her.

Sola whirled around.

She barely blocked the sword coming at her.

 _Jump_.

She jumped up, avoiding the swing targeting her legs.

_Right._

She blocked the swing coming from her right.

_Left._

She blocked the other side.

_Swing._

She swung quickly and calculatedly.

It was blocked.

The Jedi cut a scar on her hip.

Sola grunted, stunned as she took steps back.

The Jedi wanted to capitalize.

Sola grunted again as she was kicked on the stomach, now being bullied by the Jedi.

The Jedi was eyeing up a finishing blow.

_Stab._

Sola stabbed the Jedi in an upward motion. She then pushed the sword even more to get the Jedi to fall over. She let out a sigh of relief before she got up, ignoring the puddle of blood forming after she had pulled the sword out of the Jedi’s chest. She ignored the blood dripping from her vampire sword as she pulled her guard up and began moving and advancing through the Jedi Temple once again. If there was one thing she knew, it was that today would be a long day for her.

____________________

Anakin and Padmé were running through the woods. Both of them could’ve sworn they saw Obi-Wan hiding somewhere, but every time they thought they found him, he wouldn’t be there when they’d go and check. Obi-Wan was everywhere, yet to them, he was absolutely nowhere. They couldn’t find him, but they had to. No Jedi could be left alive, and no Jedi could live to tell the tale of what the princess and her husband had done to the Jedi Order of the Cross. Nobody could know of this, absolutely nobody, and Obi-Wan was the loose end.

“Do you see him anywhere?”, Anakin asked.

His wife shook her head, “I…don’t.”

“Damn it,” he muttered. “Where did he go? He can’t just disappear!”

“Something tells me he can,” Padmé mumbled. “I hope not though.”

“I don’t like this,” he sighed. “If he gets out of here, he’ll tell everyone. It’s either we find him or we’re done for.”

“I know, I know, I know.”

The pair went through the woods, going through the bushes and crushing the twigs they step on. It was dark, but they could still see. Their eyesight was far better, and they could see in the dark, but that didn’t mean that a search in the dark would be an easy feat for them. Their eyes were glowing in the dark as well, making them ever so slightly scarier than before, but at the same time, it made them easier to spot. Still, this disadvantage they had was luckily something Obi-Wan wasn’t exploiting as of the moment.

Padmé pointed to a tree nearby, “There, I think I saw him.”

The two ran to aforementioned tree, swords in hand as they looked behind it. Nobody was behind it, but they saw a figure running away.

“There he is,” Anakin pointed to the supposed Obi-Wan. “Come on, let’s go!”

“Right with you,” Padmé replied as she followed her husband’s lead.

“OBI-WAN!”, Anakin shouted at the figure. “STOP!”

The figure turned around and spoke with the familiar voice of Obi-Wan, “So, you were one of them.”

Anakin shook his head, “I never chose this.” Padmé remained quiet, letting the two go on their war of words.

“You’re a vampire, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said. “You’re a TRAITOR!”

Anakin furrowed his eyebrows before repeating, “I NEVER CHOSE THIS!”

“That does not change anything, for as long as you are a vampire, you choose sin,” the older man replied. “One should rather die than live a vampire. You let her seduce you!”

Padmé felt a wave of anger wash over her as Anakin shouted back, “SHE NEVER SEDUCED ME! SHE ISN’T WHAT YOU THINK!”

“THEN, YOU WOULDN’T BE AS BLINDED AS YOU WOULD BE RIGHT NOW, AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU, PADME!”

“It was my father’s fault,” Padmé muttered.

Obi-Wan ignored Padmé’s statement, “And you, Anakin, YOU HAVE TURNED YOUR BACK ON THE ONE BEING YOU HAVE DEVOTED YOURSELF TO!”

“THE ONE BEING I AM DEVOTED TO STANDS NEXT TO ME!”. Padmé felt her heart skip a beat as Anakin replied.

Obi-Wan gave a horrified look before slowly shaking his head, “Then, love truly has blinded you.”

Padmé growled as she ran at Obi-Wan, sword in hand, and Obi-Wan was caught by surprise with this. Anakin followed her shortly after.

 _Jump,_ Anakin effortlessly jumped over his friend.

Anakin jumped over Obi-Wan, and due to him having Anakin behind him and Padmé in front, the Jedi wisely darted to the right to have both in front of him.

 _Swing_ , Anakin swung, targeting Obi-Wan’s head.

The Jedi blocked his swing.

Padmé swung.

Obi-Wan blocked again.

Obi-Wan swung.

 _Duck,_ Anakin ducked down.

Obi-Wan’s sword went right over him.

Padmé swung.

Obi-Wan squealed as she barely cut him.

Obi-Wan took a few steps back, attempting to retreat.

Anakin kept moving, keeping pace with him.

 _Swing,_ Anakin swung yet again, more power with this swing.

Obi-Wan blocked lousily, nearly letting go of his sword as he did.

In an attempt to bring the Jedi down, Anakin kicked him on the knee.

Obi-Wan grunted as he fell to the ground.

 _Swing,_ Anakin swung again, but it was barely blocked.

 _Swing again_ , Obi-Wan let go of his sword after Anakin’s second swing.

Everything then slowed down.

Obi-Wan panted, his face full of defeat.

Anakin panted as well before kicking Obi-Wan’s sword off to the side.

Padmé came up next to him.

“You don’t have to die here, Obi-Wan,” Anakin said. “We can turn you, and you can help us defeat Palpatine. You can be with Satine. You can be with her forever. Well, that’s assuming she’d be willing to be turned as well, but either way, you don’t have to die here, Obi-Wan, and I don’t want you to have that fate. Neither me nor Padmé want that. Besides, only you Jedi believe that the vampires are evil, I’ve learned that.”

“I’d rather die than live a vampire,” Obi-Wan gritted his teeth, making a clear statement.

“Look, hear me out on this,” Anakin sighed. “Haven’t you always told me that when the day comes, God will save you, hmm? Haven’t you always told me that? Well, right now seems to be that day, so where is he? Where is this God whom you’ve always gone on about? Where?”

“God can come in many different ways,” Obi-Wan replied not long after.

Anakin scoffed, “Well, where exactly is he? Now might be a good time for him to show up, don’t you think? Come on now, where is he? Isn’t he supposed to be here right now, huh? Don’t you think so?”

“He…will come,” Obi-Wan said weakly. “He…always delivers, Anakin.”

“Right now, I don’t think he will, but we are here and we want to help you,” Anakin extended his arm, and he offered his hand to pull Obi-Wan up. “We’re giving you a choice, Obi-Wan. Please…just take it. Look, I promise you won’t regret it, ever.”

Obi-Wan stopped for a moment to think, but he ended up shaking his head, “No.”

Anakin sighed, frowning, “Very well.”

He struck Obi-Wan down.

____________________

Sola was standing right in front of the last Jedi in the temple. There were bodies everywhere, young and old, and she was now standing in front of the last one she’d put down on the floor. She had done well earlier, and nothing would suggest that she wouldn’t repeat the act here. The Jedi spat out a few words that she elected to ignore, and she performed a fighting stance, inviting the Jedi to make the first move. The Jedi eventually ran at her.

She sidestepped, quickly avoiding his charge.

She lunged at him.

The Jedi blocked.

She turned around to stare him down again.

Silence came around for a few moments.

Sola ran at the Jedi.

She swung widely.

The Jedi barely blocked.

Before Sola could turn around, the Jedi swung at her.

“AGH!”

Sola screamed in pain as the Jedi landed a hit.

Sola turned around, growling, full of anger.

She swung widely.

The Jedi ducked underneath.

Sola stepped back when the Jedi countered with a swing of his own.

The Jedi swung again.

Sola stepped back again.

Using the Force, Sola was able to push the Jedi to the wall.

She ran at him with the sword.

The Jedi barely dodged it.

Sola grunted.

The Jedi targeted her stomach.

She sidestepped his attack.

Sola then finished him with a quick strike to the head.

A massive wound showed up on it, and blood poured down, fully out of control, but Sola ignored this. She smirked, a smug smile on her face as she was full of triumph. She then realized it might be a good idea to go back and check if the temple was completely cleared, and after that, she could get back and meet with the hopefully-still-alive Padmé and Anakin. She left the room, and she began clearing the Jedi Temple again.


	15. Chapter 15

“W-what?”, Palpatine looked surprised at what he had heard. “Really?”

“Really,” Padmé gave a small nod. “We have taken down the entirety of the Jedi Order of the Cross, Father.”

“I…can confirm that,” Anakin said as he stood next to Padmé. “It happened two nights ago. All of them are dead, Master.”

“S-Sola, i-is this…?”, Palpatine asked, still full of disbelief, but they could all see his cautious optimism.

“Yes, Father,” she replied. “They lured majority of the Jedi into a death trap, and I cleared out the remainder of the Jedi Temple. We, uh, worked together to get this done and dusted, and their death is our benefit if I remember.”

King Palpatine’s surprised look slowly turned into a smile, “Very good, very, very good. I must admit, this is a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. You three have all done very well, and I am very pleased.”

“Thank you, Father,” Padmé and Sola replied solemnly.

“Thank you, Master,” Anakin replied solemnly as well.

“You three can take a rest for now. I shall speak with your mother, and after that, I’ll schedule a meeting with the privy council, but you three can take a day or two off as you all deserve it.”

“Thank you, Father.”

“Thank you, Master.”

Anakin, Padmé, and Sola left the room shortly after.

____________________

It was the following day when Palpatine had met up with the privy council. He had a thing in his mind and wished to talk to them about it, hoping they would give him their support on what he had planned. They were complete in the meeting room a little later than usual, but Palpatine didn’t really mind it at all as he was really in no rush to get what he had in mind to pull through.

“Everyone,” Palpatine prompted.

“Your Majesty,” they all replied before one spoke. “You…asked to see us, sir?”

“Yes, yes, do please sit down,” Palpatine nodded. “I have a matter of which I wish to talk about with all of you.”

The last councilor sat down before speaking up shortly after, “Well, what exactly is it, sir?”

Palpatine sighed before making his statement, “I, uh, wish to talk to all of you about making Anakin Skywalker a prince.”

The man to his left raised an eyebrow, “Captain Anakin Skywalker? The, uh, husband of Her Royal Highness Princess Padmé of Cornwall, your daughter?”

“Yes, him,” the king confirmed. “My son-in-law.”

He slowly nodded, “And, why do you wish for this to be…so, sir?”

“I figured it might be fitting for him considering he is granted the style _His Royal Highness._ I can, without a doubt, assure you that many people believe him to be a prince, and I feel like I’d rather not let this continue to be a misconception,” Palpatine explained. “Making him a Prince of the United Kingdom would save us from people questioning his style, and besides, by the time of my stepping down or inevitable passing, it is most likely he will be a king alongside my daughter.”

“Sir, you…may be counting out the fact that producing a male heir is possible,” another member pointed out.

He shook his head, “Me and Lara have no plans of trying for a child soon, and I doubt that producing an heir is likely for her at this age. Both of us are content with our two daughters, and I’m already setting up my daughter to take the throne.”

“I…see.”

“All I wish for is your support and general agreement to my plans as I do not wish to bring up a commotion for doing such a thing with no advice. Are all of you in agreement here?”

There was a bit of silence as the privy councilors tried making up their minds, but one-by-one, they all either nodded or said ‘yes,’ and this led to Palpatine smiling triumphantly, “Very well, that is all I have for today. I apologize if you were all expecting a longer meeting, but this is one was meant to be short from the beginning. Anyway, all of you are dismissed, have a good day.”

____________________

Anakin and Sola were busy talking to one another about their plans to overthrow Palpatine. Padmé was out as she was called on by Palpatine, but she would eventually come back.

“Are you sure we can’t think of a better idea?”, Sola asked.

Anakin shrugged, “I think mine is perfectly fine, but…if you have any other plans, I’m more than willing to listen to whatever you have to say, just saying.”

Before Sola could reply, Padmé entered the room with an envelope in her hands, “Ani, this is for you from my father.” She handed her husband the envelope.

“Alright, then,” Anakin, with a raised eyebrow, slowly nodded before opening it and taking the paper from inside.

____________________

As of September 7, 1880, I, King Palpatine Benedict Louis, with the advice of the Privy Council, declare that His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh shall be made a Prince of the United Kingdom, and henceforth, he shall officially be known as His Royal Highness The Prince Anakin, Duke of Edinburgh.

…

____________________

Anakin practically gaped at the letter once he realized what it was, and Padmé decided to clear a few things up after noticing this, “Father wanted to know if you would accept his offer. Nothing much will change with this, really, so you don’t need to worry about your workload getting any heavier. If I were you, I’d accept it, but it’s…really your choice. I assume it’s a gift from Father considering we eradicated the Jedi Order of the Cross.”

Anakin looked to see Padmé and Sola smiling at him expectantly, and that was the final push to make him accept, “Alright, I’ll…take it.”

Their smiles widened as Sola patted his shoulder, “Well, _Prince_ Anakin, welcome to the royal life.”

He raised an eyebrow judgingly, “If you ask me, I think I’ve already been experiencing the royal life ever since your father styled me as _His Royal Highness_. Needless to say, I’ve somehow been coping well.”

“Well, this should be easy for you then.”

“If you ask me, I think we should take it slow on the whole plot to take down Palpatine plan,” Anakin suggested. “Perhaps just rest for a month or two before making our next move as it might be a good idea.”

____________________

Anakin had learned that there was a small ceremony set up for him that would act like a coronation ceremony for him. Palpatine told and reassured him that the ceremony would be extremely similar to the ceremony making him a vampire prince if not a complete carbon copy, so he should already have a good understanding of it. The only real difference was that Padmé, Sola, and Lara would all be sat in the front row rather than next to Palpatine, but Anakin would have the apparent pleasure of sitting next to the king directly after.

Anakin stepped forward, beginning to walk down the isle full of members of the aristocracy. The entirety of the audience were all at least nobles of some kind as Anakin observed. He wore a military full dress to the small ceremony (without any sort of headwear, of course), and he knew that he would be wearing much more by the time he’d stand next to the king and sit down next to him as well. Palpatine was waiting for him up ahead, a small smile on his face before he shot a glance at the coronet he’d give him as a prince.

Anakin knelt before him on the small stool provided. A sash of sorts was placed around him with a sword hanging off of it. The coronet was brought into Palpatine’s hands and on the top of Anakin’s head shortly after. Palpatine then took something that was eventually placed on a finger, but Anakin didn’t have time to register what it was. Palpatine then took a golden rod and handed it to Anakin who held onto it with his right hand. He could feel the warmth of robes being placed around him as his father-in-law finished the robes by tying it. Anakin smiled ever so slightly before getting off the stool and moving to stand alongside King Palpatine.

The two sat down almost simultaneously, and as Anakin observed the aristocrats’ faces, they all seemed genuinely pleased with this ceremony, supposedly happy and willing to welcome him as a Prince of the United Kingdom. He then turned to Padmé, Sola, and Lara, and they were all smiling at him as well. He could also feel Palpatine smiling next to him as well. Due to this, Anakin let out a small smile of his own, swelling with pride as he felt the thankfulness and happiness that this ceremony made to crown him did not have him be as miserable as last time where he was made by Palpatine a Prince of the Vampires.

 _Things are looking up for me,_ Anakin admitted in thought.


	16. Chapter 16

It was around three weeks later when Anakin began to notice Padmé taking trips to the bathroom more often to vomit. Anakin tried to shrug it off every time especially as Padmé almost always came up with some sort of excuse for it, but at some point, specifically around a week later, it became too much for him, and he knew that there was only one reason behind all of this. The small problem was that he didn’t exactly know what this reason was, but the good news is he does have one thing in mind. He acknowledged another one of Padmé’s vomiting one morning.

“Padmé, are you sure you aren’t, you know, sick?”

“I’m sure, Ani,” she reassured him for the umpteenth time. “I promise.”

“Don’t you think you’re…with child?”, he said, a raised eyebrow on his face. “Isn’t that the symptoms of it? You’re not feeling anything apparently, so this is the only thing I can come up with.”

She sighed, “I…suppose you’re right. Ever since my first vomiting, I’ve…had the idea that I was, well, with child, and now, I suppose this makes it much clearer.”

Anakin’s lips curled into a smile, “Well, if that truly is the case, that is absolutely lovely.” He then came over to kiss Padmé passionately who had just wiped off all the vomit off her lips. “We’re having children, angel, can you believe that?”

“No, but I believe I should,” she quipped.

He chuckled, “Believe it because this stomach of yours will just get larger and larger, swelling with our lovely, lovely child.”

“I believe that, at some point, we vampires will be able to detect it using the Force.”

“Really?”

“Really,” she replied. “Perhaps in a few months’ time, we’ll be able to find out if we’re having a boy or girl, and I think we’ll also know exactly how many we’re having.”

“You believe we may have a pair of them?”

“Not necessarily,” she shook her head. “But, I remain cautiously optimistic, and I’d love to have two of them.”

“Me, too,” he agreed. “A pair of them would be perfect.”

“I think we’d be happy either way though.”

He smiled and kissed her cheek, “Well, I don’t see why I could disagree.”

____________________

“You’re with child?”, Sola asked as Padmé told her the news, and she was on the verge of smiling. “R-really?”

“Mhm,” Padmé replied with a smile before placing a hand on her still-normal-sized stomach. “I am.”

Anakin beamed at Sola, “It’s great, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” she nodded before getting up to hug Padmé. “I’m so happy for you, dear sister.”

Anakin shrugged before joining in on their hug in awkward fashion, “Might as well.”

Sola then pulled out and frowned, and Padmé noticed this, “Is there…anything wrong?”

“What if Father learns about it?”, Sola asked worriedly. “We surely have to wait until after the pregnancy to continue our plan to take Father down, and God knows what Father might do with them.”

“My child will be a vampire, no doubt about that,” Padmé pointed out. “So, we shouldn’t make a fuss about Father turning them.”

“ _Our_ child,” Anakin corrected.

“Yes, yes, I know.”

“But, anyway, Sola’s right: You, dear wife, have to give birth first before we can go on with our plan. Sola and I aren’t enough to take down your father. We need us to be three, not two, and you’re surely not ready to fight by then. Your mother, while she shouldn’t be that difficult to deal with, might still be quite the annoyance and could help out Palpatine a lot.”

“Indeed,” Padmé agreed. “Unfortunately, we would have to take it slow.”

“Should we tell your father about the children?”

Padmé shrugged, “He’ll learn about it at some point anyway. My stomach will grow sooner or later.”

He slowly nodded, “Good point, and I guess we should keep the child away from your father as much as possible?”

“Yes,” both Padmé and Sola answered.

“Okay, well, this might be an off-topic question but would our child get princely status?”, Anakin asked.

Padmé shook her head, “Well, not immediately, no, Father would have to grant them titles as only children of sons of the sovereign get a guaranteed princely status. It’s almost a guarantee, however, as children of a princess often would get princely status, albeit being given to them by the sovereign.”

“Ah, okay, I see.”

“I’m…not quite sure if they will get it as you are a prince yourself, but either way, I’m quite sure they will get it at some point.”

“If your father offers them the titles, should we accept it though?”

“I…think we should,” Padmé then turned to Sola. “What do you think, Sola?”

She shrugged, “I don’t know. It’s your child, anyway.”

“Right, right, but yes, I think we should. They’ll still live a royal life either way, so there’s really no point. We might as well let them take it as it wouldn’t really change much,” Padmé explained. “Prince Luke, Princess Leia…”

Sola raised an eyebrow, “Luke? Leia?”

“Oh,” Padmé laughed sheepishly. “It’s the names that me and Anakin came up with for when we thought of baby names.”

“Which happened before I learned you were a vampire,” Anakin added pointlessly. “Just saying.”

“Uh, okay, then? Uh, what was that for?”, she asked, awkwardness all over the place.

“Uh, nothing, just…ignore that.”

“Uh, what?”, Sola asked.

“What?”

“Huh?”

“W-what are you saying?”

“Nothing, just…ignore that,” Anakin repeated.

“O-okay, then.”

____________________

Eventually, Palpatine and Lara did notice Padmé being pregnant, and it was then that Padmé decided to tell them. Both Anakin and Sola were surprised that Padmé found a way to explain why she hadn’t told them of her pregnancy earlier. Padmé and Anakin soon both learned that their baby would be babies as they were having twins. Not long after, they learned that they would be a boy and a girl. A few days before Padmé learned it was time for the babies to come out, King Palpatine issued a letters patent stating her child would be granted princely status.

After a good few months of waiting, it was time for Padmé to have to push. Anakin was sat on the other side of the bed, and there was a midwife there to assist Padmé in giving birth as was usual. It was around the afternoon when it was time, so many were still wide awake. Despite this, both Anakin and Padmé elected to not share anything about the babies so early on by the time they come out, but they would likely start sharing things about them the day after.

“Ma’am, you’re going to need to push now,” the midwife told Padmé as Anakin held onto her hand.

“You can do this, Padmé,” Anakin whispered into her ear before she began screaming as she started pushing.

“AAAAAHHHH!”

Anakin sighed as he looked at his wife pushing. He knew this was necessary and was normal, but he still felt a wave of sympathy for her. She was a vampire, sure, and she likely won’t die, sure, but that wouldn’t stop the sympathetic waves from flowing. She was still in pain, and he was still someone who cared so much for her. He’d wish he could simply go through all the pain just for her, but that was not the case, unfortunately, as this was not one of those types of situations.

It was not long after when the midwife checked to see the progress, “I…see it. The head’s coming out, ma’am.” Anakin just barely caught the small smile on Padmé’s face before she pushed again, and her smile was quickly replaced with cries of pain. Anakin closed his eyes, not wanting to take the sight of his wife in pain, but he tightened his hold on her hand as he did. “You can do this, you can do this,” he murmured, but his statement likely fell to deaf ears.

Eventually, Anakin drifted off in Padmé’s screams and was surprised to hear the midwife announcing the baby, “The first baby is out!”. The baby was then wrapped neatly in a warm cloth before the midwife soon told Padmé to push again, “Ma’am, you…need to push again. You’re having twins.”

Padmé gave a faked confused look before nodding, “O-okay.”

Anakin winced as Padmé began screaming, full of pain once again, and once again, he wished he could just take all the pain for her. Somehow, somewhere, he could feel the slightest bit of pain himself, but he knew it was nowhere near what Padmé was feeling.

Eventually, the second baby came out, and the midwife got a hold of it. After a bit of resting, the midwife then offered Anakin and Padmé to hold their children, “Ma’am, sir, do you wish to hold your children?”

Obviously, they did.

Anakin held onto Leia, and Padmé held onto Luke. Padmé smiled adoringly, “They’re beautiful, Ani.”

“So, so beautiful,” Anakin added. “The most beautiful things in the world, right next to you.”

She pouted at him, “You’re with us, too.”

He raised an eyebrow, “So, all four of us?”

“Mhm,” she nodded. “The most beautiful.”

“The most beautiful,” he repeated.

Padmé smiled down at her son before cooing, “My little vampires.”


	17. Chapter 17

The next day was quiet. The palace recently announced Padmé giving birth and their names, but Anakin and Padmé ignored that, letting themselves bathe in peace and silence for the time being as they took on the role of being new parents now. The two were sat on the bed in silence as they each cradled one baby, and Anakin sang a lullaby. Padmé remained quiet to make sure both Luke and Leia could hear her husband’s soothing voice. Padmé then closed her eyes at some point and leaned on his shoulder, happy to be under the comfort of his voice, and she could feel his smile as she did so.

She spoke up at some point, “You know that, at some point, we’ll have to make sure the children don’t go out biting people randomly, right? They’ll be hard to control.”

“I know, I know,” Anakin slowly nodded. “But, it’s…a sacrifice we’re willing to make for our children, isn’t it?”

“It is,” her lips curled into a small smile. “Unfortunately, we won’t witness too much of the ‘growing old’ part as they’ll only grow until young adulthood, but that doesn’t mean we won’t enjoy watching them grow.”

“Indeed,” he agreed. “Now, I’m starting to wonder how long it’ll take for them to get married.”

She chuckled, “Well, they have forever to decide on that.”

“That…now makes me wonder: Should all of the wives and husbands of our children have to be turned? Of course, this is by the impression that you ascend to the throne, and I come with you.”

“I think we will. The only thing we need to do is stop Father and perhaps Mother as well,” Padmé said. “That being said, I don’t really think Mother will side with us against Father, but I hope she does. Still, like I said, I doubt it.”

“I doubt it, too. Your mother seemed to enjoy being alongside Palpatine, so I guess she wouldn’t side with us should we try to take your father down.”

“Unfortunately, that seems like the case,” she sighed. “I loved Mother back then, and I suppose I still slightly do now, but Mother was much better when Father wasn’t a vampire and neither was she.”

“I do see that being the case.”

“When do you suppose we start working on taking down Father again?”, Padmé asked. “I’m worried that the longer we take, the more likely Father will catch onto what we have planned.”

Anakin shrugged, “I…really don’t know. Our children are, well, children, and they need to be taken care of more by us as we understand them as we are vampires. Your father is…unpredictable, insidious, and just about anything wrong. We have two problems here. I feel like the first thing we need to do is hire a caretaker for the kids who both is willing to learn about vampires and isn’t set to kill them at first sight.”

“Oh, yes, finding a caretaker might be a problem,” Padmé murmured. “We can take days off, but we can’t simply stay here with them forever.”

“I know.”

“But, let’s…take this step by step.”

Anakin slowly began to smile, “That sounds like a good idea.”

____________________

It was now a few months after the birth of Prince Luke and Princess Leia, and Anakin and Padmé were still with their children. With that, they decided to hire a caretaker who she herself was a vampire. Her name was Katherine, and Padmé knew her to be someone that Sola had recommended to her, so she could trust in her, really. They hoped that hiring a vampire for a caretaker would work out much better than hiring a human who knows nothing about vampires.

“Two children? Are you really up to the task?”, Padmé asked Katherine, a hopeful look in the mother’s eyes.

“Two vampire children, might I add,” Anakin added.

Katherine enthusiastically nodded, “Yes, I am. I’m willing to…go through this…mess for you two.”

Anakin chuckled, “Well, that is good to hear.”

“It is,” Padmé agreed. “As much as…me and Anakin over here want to be very involved in our children’s lives, we…would need a caretaker for them at some point because we are still…very busy indeed.”

“I can understand that,” Katherine replied, grinning. “I suppose you could place your trust in me. I shall do my best, ma’am.”

“Alright, then, we’ll… prepare for work now, so I suppose your day begins here.”

Anakin and Padmé left the room to, as they said, prepare to get back to work. Their workload would be lighter than usual for obvious reasons, but they had work, nonetheless. Their usual job would be sorting through letters, but now, they’d have to pay a few visits to certain places. Their workload had increased prior to Padmé being with child, but it was then decreased due to the two now being parents. Well, decreased temporarily, at the very least.

____________________

Anakin and Padmé were paying a visit to a nursery that the royals helped fund. They had a visit planned here for a while now and would finally be fulfilling their plans today. It was planned to take place at some point during Padmé’s pregnancy, but as expected, it was pushed back due to Padmé being with child. 

As Anakin and Padmé stepped closer to the child, the young girl would always step back, hiding herself behind the teacher.

“There’s no need to be afraid, dear,” Padmé said as she and Anakin were both knelt to stay on the level of the child they wanted to talk to.

The child looked up to the teacher, “Are they really a prince and princess?”

“Yes, now come on, say hi,” the teacher said, trying to get the child to interact with the couple.

She then slowly stepped forward and moved in front of Anakin and Padmé before shyly waving, “H-hi.”

Padmé’s heart broke in the loveliest way, “Hello, dear, what’s your name?”

“Um, Amelia,” she answered weakly.

The princess smiled before introducing herself, “Hi, Amelia, I’m Padmé.”

“Hi, Padmé.”

“I’m Anakin,” Anakin introduced himself this time.

“Hi, Anakin.”

“That’s a lovely name you have,” Anakin complimented her.

“Thank you,” Amelia replied. “Are you really a prince and princess? I’ve heard so much.”

Anakin nodded, “Yes, me and her, we’re a prince and princess, and we’re also husband and wife.”

“Really?”

“Mhm.”

“So, are you rich?”, she asked.

Anakin stifled a laugh at how unusual the question was as Padmé answered, “Well, I guess you could say so.”

“Okay…”

It seemed like the young girl was going to say something else, but she was interrupted by one of Anakin and Padmé’s ‘staff’ walking up to them to tell them something, and said staff led them out of an area where they could be heard.

“What do you need of us?”, Padmé asked.

“His Majesty requests your presence at Mustafar Castle immediately, Lady Amidala,” he informed her. “And, you as well, Lord Vader.”

Padmé nodded, “I see. Just…give us a moment, please, we won’t take long as we are finishing up here, anyway.”

“Understood, ma’am.”

____________________

Anakin and Padmé entered Mustafar Castle. They were greeted by the vampiric knights who opened the gates to the castle for them, and soon enough, they were inside the dark yet glamorous red-themed premises. They walked down the halls being traced by a smooth, perfect red carpet, and as they walked quietly, they observed the thumping of their feet making each and every step they’d take. Tensions were high, and this was more than obvious for the couple.

They could barely hear the sounds of muffled chatter from the other rooms as they passed by one hall to the next then the next, and as they got closer and closer to the throne room, the tensions just came more and more. They knew Palpatine would be there, waiting for them, and perhaps Lara would be waiting for them there as well. They didn’t know if Sola had been summoned by her father, but there were definitely other worse problems to deal with. _What might be so important as for them to immediately be summoned to Mustafar Castle?_ , they both wondered.

The doors were then pushed open by the staff, and Anakin and Padmé entered. As the room got brighter and brighter, they began to make out who were inside. Sat on the larger throne was, of course, Palpatine, and right next to him was his wife, Lara. _Nothing new there,_ Anakin thought to himself. There was another woman standing by the two, and that was Sola, and right next to her? Katherine. Padmé then looked to the side of the room to see two cradles, both of which seeming awfully similar to that of their twin children, Prince Luke and Princess Leia.

Padmé could feel the fear building up in her, wondering what has happened. Anakin could feel his own fear building up as well for the exact same reason. Just as they cowered in fear, Palpatine stood up and took a few steps forward before making one statement.

“Lord Vader, Lady Amidala, how pleasant of you to join us.”


	18. Chapter 18

Anakin and Padmé stood there, completely quiet as they were all ears and clearly would have to listen to what Palpatine had to say.

“Now, I’m sure both of you would like to know why I have summoned you two here,” Palpatine chuckled. “Well, don’t worry, I suppose I should tell it to you right now: You see, I’ve always had the suspicion that you, your husband, and your sister had something against. I’ve thought of this for quite a while now, and your mother the same. For a while, I thought that you three were on my side considering you three singlehandedly took down the Jedi Order of the Cross for me, but I’ve learned otherwise. Your mother here suggested that I question at least one of you, and seen as you and Anakin were out resting, I decided to ask your sister instead. As you can see, your sister has admitted the truth, indeed.”

Padmé practically gaped at Sola for a bit before asking, “S-Sola, i-is this…really true?”

Sola wanted to speak but nodded instead as Palpatine cackled, “Oh, my daughter, you wouldn’t think I would summon you and him here for no reason, would you?”

“No,” Padmé replied weakly, slowly shaking her head. “No, you wouldn’t.”

“See? Well, anyway, normally, one shouldn’t really explain their plans, but I am feeling generous today, so moving on: After I learned of your little plot to take me down, I brought in Katherine over here, and since your dear sister was busy, I simply had her come into your lives as your children’s caretaker instead. Quite interesting, eh?”

Padmé rolled her eyes, sadness and annoyance crowding her.

Anakin gritted his teeth, “Just tell us what you want, so we can get our children back.”

Palpatine shook his head and laughed, “Oh, no, my boy, it won’t be that easy.”

Anakin groaned, furrowing his eyebrows, “Well, what do you want from us?”

“See, that’s the thing: I don’t want you two anymore,” Palpatine smirked. “I have many things in mind. Unfortunately, you two are very important people, so killing you off won’t be easy. The fate of dear Sola here? Hm, I’m not quite sure what to do with her yet, and the same thing goes for you two. I’m also still wondering if you deserve some funeral of some sort for what you’ve done to me, and I’m also thinking of what to do to your children here, but either way, that can be for another time, I suppose.” Palpatine turned to Lara. “Darling, call them in.”

She nodded before shouting, “GUARDS!”

The doors behind them swung open, and they could hear the unusually loud marching of the guards. Anakin had to do something. He had to. This was their last chance.

_Grab the sword._

Using the Force, Anakin took the sword of the nearest guard. With quick reactions, he successfully beheaded the first guard. He shot a quick glance at Palpatine who was merely watching what he would likely believe to be feeble attempts. Padmé’s eyes widened at this, and she grabbed a sword for herself as well. Just like that, chaos filled the throne room quickly.

_Swing._

_Right._

_Top._

_Swing._

Dead as the body falls on the floor.

Blood flown out quickly.

_Swing._

Another one dead.

Anakin kicked the leg of the guard behind.

_Swing._

Another one killed, stabbed.

Anakin turned to look at Palpatine who was now standing alongside Lara and Katherine, and all three of them looked keen to fight them.

Anakin furrowed their eyebrows as he stood alongside Padmé. Silence then engulfed the room, and he could hear the cold blood dripping from his sword. He could hear his warm breaths. He could feel the tenseness on everyone in the room. He could feel that this would decide the fate of Luke and Leia. He could feel that this is what it all came down to. He could feel this was the last step to taking the throne with Padmé. He could feel him and Padmé winning it all after this.

The two ran at the three.

It began.

The loud clashing of swords filled the room. The grunts and screams from each side came along with it. Some could simply watch as others fought.

_Swing._

_Top._

_Step back._

_Swing._

“AGH!”, Katherine screamed in pain as Padmé landed a hit just barely by the leg. Wanting to take advantage, she swung again. Their swords clashed, but Katherine was weak.

_Swing._

She landed another hit, this time on the shoulder, and Katherine screamed again. Katherine swung widely, but it was an easy dodge for the princess. Padmé scoffed at the attempt before kicking her on the leg, and a third scream came as Katherine fell to the ground. Without hesitation, Padmé impaled her, and she could hear the sword pierce through her skin before being pulled out, blood from the sword dripping back into the hole made from the stab.

Padmé then saw one of the swords fly to Sola’s hand, and she gave a small nod, acknowledging her sister would be helping out as well. Lara turned around to fight her two daughters.

Anakin was busy fending off Palpatine. If he could, he would help Padmé and Sola take down their mother, but he couldn’t. He was busy fighting Palpatine, after all.

_Swing._

_Duck._

_Swing._

_Top._

_Right._

_Swing._

Anakin winced as he saw that he barely missed Palpatine’s stomach. Palpatine took advantage and swung at him, but Anakin stepped back in time. The two clashed again, synchronous with the sword clash of the other fight taking place nearby. As Palpatine came at him with a flurry of calculated swings, Anakin stepped back and back and more. He was then stopped by the back of his foot touching the body of a dead guard. He turned around to look at it, and this allowed Palpatine to scar him on the hip. “AAH!”, Anakin screamed in pain before quickly stepping over and across the body. He then took a few steps back to retreat.

_Swing._

Anakin swung with power.

They clashed.

Palpatine’s sword flew out of his hand.

Due to Anakin being weak, his sword flew out of his hand, too.

They flew unusually far, so the two turned to see two swords near each other.

Anakin took the longer one, and Palpatine took the other.

He could hear the distant stabbing coming from the other fight, and he shot a glance to see Lara defeated.

Padmé and Sola tried to run at Palpatine, but he effortlessly pushed his two daughters off to the side, and Anakin could barely hear the thump from the two hitting the wall.

Anakin growled as he ran at Palpatine.

_Swing._

Palpatine blocked.

_Right._

Anakin blocked.

_Swing._

Palpatine blocked.

_Step back._

Anakin stepped back.

_Sidestep._

Anakin sidestepped.

_Swing._

Palpatine dodged.

Palpatine was slow to react to Anakin’s Force Push.

He was stunned.

He dropped to his knees in stumbling weakness.

Anakin swung with all his might.

To his surprise, Palpatine’s sword broke.

The power of the swing caused Palpatine to fall to the floor.

“You bastard,” Palpatine hissed.

And, one last time, he impaled his master.

He could feel the last breaths of Palpatine passing.

And, it was over.

Anakin panted, his hands on his knees as he bent down, trying to catch his breath. When he stood up straight again, he was ran into by the tight and desperate hug from his wife. He could feel her kissing below the ear. Out of this, he kissed the top of her head, bathing in the wet sound his mouth gave out when doing so. He shot a glance and saw Sola bringing the cradles with the babies in them to them.

“We’re okay, angel,” Anakin reassured her, rubbing her bag to bring comfort to her. “It’s over now.”

“We’re okay,” she laughed breathlessly, smiling through tears. She then pulled out to check on the babies. They were wide awake, eyes opened wide, and Padmé cradled Leia. In turn, Anakin cradled Luke.

Sola then frowned, and Padmé noticed this, “Sola, is there…something wrong?”

“I-I’m sorry,” she choked out. “I nearly doomed all of us. I’m really sorry.”

Padmé shook her head before reassuring her, “It’s okay. It’s not your fault. Trust me, anyone would give into Father if he tried them hard enough.”

“Still, I’m sorry.”

“Well, we forgive you either way,” Anakin replied. “You don’t need to worry about it now.”

____________________

Padmé slowly walked forward, and not long after, she sat down on the throne. She looked at the large audience watching the event go down. The Archbishop of Canterbury then slid the Sovereign’s Ring onto her finger before handing her the Scepter and the Rod. St. Edward’s Crown was then placed on top of her head, and the Archbishop began making his prayers.

As Anakin knelt, the canopy was brought over him, and the Coronation Ring was slid onto his finger shortly before the crown made for him as consort was placed on top of his head. He then stood up and was led back to where he’d sit for the rest of the coronation.

Anakin then said to himself, “Well, I suppose I wasn’t better left dead.”


	19. Chapter 19

**April 29, 2011**

Anakin and Padmé saw Luke, their son and Prince of Wales, and Mara, their daughter-in-law and Princess of Wales, coming to them, the wedding gown of Mara’s still dragging along the grass. It was, believe it or not, the first time they’d get to talk to them that day as the earlier part of the day often involved the two of them picking out clothing to wear to their wedding while Luke and Mara were preparing for their own wedding. The law of royal females having to wear some sort of headwear to formal events was something Padmé still wasn’t fully used to, but it wasn’t like she wasn’t liking it. She enjoyed a good fascinator.

“Luke! Mara!”, Padmé hugged the two before her husband followed suit.

Anakin smirked at his son, “How’re our newlyweds?”

“Doing fine,” Luke answered, a small smile on his face.

“Doing fine,” Anakin scoffed. “Surely, you must be feeling better than that after waiting for over a century to meet your true one.”

He shrugged, “Well, Father, I…guess it could get better.”

“How are you settling in as a vampire, Mara?”, Padmé asked.

“She nearly ate one of our staff alive yesterday,” Luke pointed out dryly.

Mara frowned, looking down in shame, “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, dearest, it’s okay,” Padmé reassured her. “You’re new, and blood cravings are normal if that’s the case. I promise you: they’ll be easier to handle as you age.”

“O-okay.”

Padmé then turned to Luke, “Luke, what blood type did you give her to start with?”

“O negative,” he answered.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Padmé sighed. “I thought you gave her something else. I’m glad that’s not the case.”

Luke rolled his eyes, “Have some faith in me, Mother.”

“I see reason why Mother wouldn’t,” Leia, Princess Royal, walked up next to his brother before placing a hand on his shoulder, smirking.

Luke scoffed, “Says my sister who dated three years before marrying. I’m surprised you and Han stuck together for so long. The 1950s were interesting years, might I add.”

“What!?”

He laughed, “I thought Father recommended that we date for ten years before tying the knot, and mind you, Mother doubled it with twenty.”

She raised an eyebrow, “That’s assuming they’re willing to be a vampire before marriage. I mean, look what happened, Mara looks 29, and you’re, like, 25 or 26!”

Mara rolled her eyes before laughing as Luke argued, “Three years is barely anything, and she still looks the part of being my age, anyway!”

The king groaned before scolding his children, “Luke, Leia, now’s not the time for your…petty arguments. Come on, we have a wedding to celebrate!”

“I’m trying to celebrate it, but oh, here comes Leia!”, Luke facepalmed.

Mara chuckled before tugging Luke’s arm, “Oh, don’t bother with it, Lu. Come on, we have a lot of people to deal with before we can get to what you promised for me tonight.”

Luke smirked, “I suppose you’re right.”

Anakin raised an eyebrow before he looked at Padmé, an eyebrow raised as well.

“Ugh, lucky you!”, Leia whined.

“What now, Leia?”, her brother groaned.

“I lost a bet to Han, and now, I don’t get anything good for a month!”

He laughed, “Well, that’s your fault. I remember you told me you started that bet, and now, sister dearest, you face the consequences for it.”

Anakin and Padmé laughed themselves before Padmé’s eyes widened as she realized something, “Oh, that reminds me.”

Anakin raised an eyebrow before he smirked as he realized it himself, and Leia asked about this, “What is it, Mother?”

“I don’t mean to try and steal the show or something like that, but your father and I are having a baby again.”

Leia slowly began to smile, “Really?”

Luke raised an eyebrow, but all of them knew he was close to a smile, “Wait, really? I…thought you settled with us twins and the triplets.”

“Yeah, I thought you and Father settled for the triple C.”

Anakin facepalmed, “Seriously, Leia, why do you keep calling them ‘triple C?’”

“What? It’s fitting!”, Leia protested. “Charles, Charlotte, and Catherine! Besides, I’m sure all of them having names that start with ‘C’ is intentional.”

“Well, you didn’t like us calling you and Luke ‘double L,’ so frankly, you don’t have the right to call them ‘triple C’.”

Leia simply sighed.

As if on cue, one of their five year old daughters, Charlotte, came up to her parents, “MUMMY! DADDY!”

Padmé turned around to reply, “Yes, dear?”

“CHARLES TOOK MY BEAR!”

She nodded, “Well, you tell Daddy over here about it. He can deal with it.”

Anakin nodded too before looking at his daughter, “So, where is he?”

“COME!”

Charlotte pulled Anakin along, dragging him out of the conversation.

Raising vampire babies was much easier than Anakin and Padmé thought. They didn’t really know how to bite and were easy to discipline as they grew up, so they didn’t really have to worry too much about them biting people when they were thirsty. It seems as though Anakin and Padmé worried too much about their triplets. Anakin and Padmé never had any children at anytime within the 20th century which surprised many, but they basically made up for it with the triplets Padmé gave birth to a few years ago, and now, they’ll be having their sixth child.

As Luke, Leia, Mara, and Han (who left for a few minutes to deal with business) left Padmé, she decided to reflect on a few memories as she looked towards the river nearby. She didn’t realize she was walking to it for a bit.

_Anakin and Padmé walked down the path as they made their way to the event that they would attend. There was a large crowd that were restrained by numerous barriers placed there to avoid them effectively crowding the royal couple. Anakin and Padmé were deaf to majority of the camera clicks of the press and the shouts and howls of the people watching them, but what did catch their attention was a child running up to them, crying._

_Anakin and Padmé knelt to acknowledge the little girl’s crying presence._

_“Please help me,” she pleaded as her lips wobbled, still sobbing._

_Padmé frowned, “What’s wrong?”_

_“I can’t find my Mummy.”_

_Padmé nodded before standing up, “What does she look like?”_

_The girl answered rather well, “Well, she’s wearing a red jacket, has brown hair, glasses, black pants, and she’s not that tall.”_

_Padmé nodded again before offering the little girl to hold her hand, “Well, let’s go find her then. Ani, do me a favor and help me find.” The girl held her hand._

_“On it!”, her husband chirped before he led the way for two of them. Padmé adjusted the fascinator she was wearing to the event before she got walking. She ignored the cameras flashing behind her, but she noticed the girl feeling scared with all the cameras surrounding her._

_They walked around, looking for aforementioned mummy._

_There was a woman with a red jacket and black pants, but she had black hair and no glasses. She was also rather tall._

_There was a woman with brown hair, black pants, glasses, and wasn’t that tall, but she wore no sort of jacket._

_There was a woman with red jacket, brown hair, wasn’t that tall, but she didn’t wear glasses nor wore black pants._

_Anakin frowned as he kept failing to find the woman the young girl was referring to. He ignored the fact that he and Padmé were lagging behind on schedule. Finding this girl’s mother was their priority for the time being._

_Then, there was a woman who checked all the boxes: red jacket, brown hair, wore glasses, black pants, and wasn’t that tall._

_Anakin smiled, “There you are.” He led his wife and the girl to her._

_“Oh, I was so worried!”, the woman grabbed her daughter as soon as Padmé hoisted her up and over the barrier. “Thank you!”_

_“Oh, it’s nothing,” Anakin shook his head._

_“Mhm,” Padmé nodded with a small smile. “It’s the least we could do. Unfortunately, I’m afraid she’ll be showing up in the media sometime soon.”_

_She chuckled, “Oh, it’s alright.”_

_The girl then mumbled something none of them could understand._

_“What was that, dear?”, the mother asked her daughter. “What did you say?”_

_The message was directed towards Anakin and Padmé, “You’re the best king and queen ever.”_

_Anakin blushed as Padmé replied, beaming, “Thank you, how kind of you to say.”_

_They soon left the two._

“Ah, good memories,” Padmé mused, still looking to the lovely river. It was peaceful, she had to admit.

“Wasn’t it?”, a smirking Anakin came up next to her.

She raised an eyebrow, “What are you doing here?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know.”

She giggled, “Alright, then.”

“It’s a nice view,” he admitted.

“Have you ever, you know, regretted what we did together? Where we are now? Any regrets?”

He chuckled before shaking his head and kissing her on the lips, “Absolutely none.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm currently working on another fanfic, and I'll likely be releasing the first chapter somewhere within a week's time. Enjoy!


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